Seeing Double
by PowerWisdomAndCourage
Summary: When Ganondorf uses the Temple of Time to travel to a different era and join forces with another Ganondorf, the heroes of Hyrule are left with no other option but to bolster their own forces with a similar tactic. Can a modern day Link really tip the scales in Hyrule's favor?
1. Chapter 1

If you were to ask the average teenage guy to describe his life in one word, he'd probably do one of three things:

Say something douchey like "lit" or "dank" to let you know that he's cool and parties.

Be really pretentious and try to sound deep by saying something along the lines of "journeying" or "aimless".

Use a phrase instead of a single word, effectively ignoring the point of the whole question.

If you asked me, though, I'd just saying "boring". It's kind of like accepting defeat to admit that your life is boring. You just offer yourself up to the mediocrity of a desk job and suburban life and hope for the best. Teenagers will practically always deny it if you say their life is boring, because it's sort of hardwired into our brains that we're all going to be millionaires and professional athletes someday. To say that life is boring, is to give up the dream.

My day to day life, however, was anything but exciting, and I'd be the first person to admit it. I mean, let's face it, we can't all be the Hero of Time and go around slaying evil. Maybe some people grew up thinking that they'd just been born in the wrong time period, but if we were born back in medieval times most of us would probably just die of dysentery anyways.

And hey, don't get me wrong. I grew just like everyone else, making believe like I was the Wielder of the Triforce of Courage fighting off evildoers. I even shared my name with the Hero of Legend: Link. Sooner or later though, everyone just has to grow up. I'd given up on being a hero a long time ago, and I wasn't holding out any hope that my adventure could begin at any moment. Not even on the morning of my seventeenth birthday.

I woke up on my seventeenth birthday the same way I did every year on July 26th: uncharacteristically early. I had never been too keen on celebrating my own birthday (the cake was the only good part really), but my mom was always crazy about making a big fuss over any household birthday. On mine or my sister's birthdays, my mom liked to wake the whole house up at an ungodly hour to an onslaught of cheesy birthday songs being blasted on a boombox. If you didn't get out of your room on your own, she'd barge in and proceed to talk your ear off to the tune of "do you know what day it is?". She'd dance around the whole house until everyone was gathered in the kitchen to go through the standard birthday ritual. All of this was good and well, except for the fact that it took place at six in the morning.

My little sister Aryll always loved the morning of her birthday, and it showed in the way she would dance around with mom in the morning, singing as her blonde pigtails bounced almost as happily as she did. Unfortunately for my mom, though, I don't really share my sister's enthusiasm. I'm the kind of person who puts a lot of emphasis and value in sleep. I'm not typically in high spirits before the sun rises.

It is for precisely this reason, that every year on my birthday since turning thirteen or so, I get up even earlier than my mom so that I can start my day off with a shower. It's just about the only way that I can peacefully wake myself up without having slept in first.

So, like I said, I woke up immensely early on my seventeenth birthday, dragged myself to the nearest bathroom, stepped into the shower, and proceeded to let the warm water pour over me. I had practically been sleep walking as I made my way into the shower, but after letting myself soak for ten minutes or so I didn't feel completely drowsy. I quickly washed myself and turned the shower head off before stepping out of the tub and drying myself off. I pulled on my lucky boxers, my comfiest pajama pants, and my favorite green t-shirt, knowing that I was going to need to be as comfortable as possible in order to face the day.

Sure enough, as soon as I opened the bathroom door I was greeted by my mother excitedly flinging her arms around me and shrieking "Happy birthday Link!"

"Good morning to you too mom," I said tiredly. She pulled back and examined my face with a proud smile. I was a little on the short side, just 5'8, but she still had to look up to look me in the eyes.

"Goodness, just when did you get so big?" she said. Her arm was resting lightly on my upper arm in that motherly sort of way that was slightly annoying and comforting at the same time.

"Not sure," I said. "Although you asked me the same thing last year so I think we can deduce that it wasn't between the ages of 16 and 17." Mom smiled lightly at me, but didn't seem to fully appreciate my dry sense of humor.

"Oh just hurry up and get downstairs you party pooper so we can start celebrating!"

"Yeah yeah, I'll be right down," I said, but mom was already hurrying down the stairs. I sighed before I started to brush my teeth, and at some point cheesy birthday music starting blasting throughout the whole house. I knew from experience that there was no point in trying to comb my mop of dirty blonde hair that seemed stuck in a perpetual state of bedhead, so getting ready didn't normally take me too long

Apparently two minutes is too much time to spend rushing teeth and putting on deodorant though, because eventually my little sister Aryll poked her head around the corner and started glaring at me. Her short blonde hair was tangled and sticking up in funny places, but despite that she looked completely wide awake.

"C'mon Link!" she said while tugging on my sleeve. "I'm starving and you know mom won't let anyone eat until you're downstairs. Hurry it up." Though try as she might, she couldn't get me to budge. I had a five year age advantage, but besides that Aryll was just naturally small. She had only just gotten taller than grandma a few months ago, and that still wasn't saying much. Her thin frame frame and bright blonde hair was practically a mirror image of a younger version of our mom.

"What is it with everyone in this house and hating the concept of a peaceful morning?" When Aria just returned my question with a scowl I figured it was time to quit messing around.

"Right right, breakfast," I said. "Let's go, come on." Aryll happily led the way downstairs and into the kitchen where grandma was already sitting at the ready. I walked up to her and pecked her on the top of the head before taking my seat to her right.

"There's my special boy," she said placing her wrinkled hand on top of mine. "Happy birthday Link." I smiled and started to respond until my mom burst into the room with a birthday cake.

"Happy birthday indeed!" she sang as she placed a double decker chocolate cake onto the center of the table. 17 candles adorned the top of the cake, and my stomach rumbled in anticipation of mom's special chocolate cake. It was to die for. Mom and Aryll took their places at the table, and finally everyone was in place to start the obligatory birthday singing.

And they did start to sing the obligatory birthday song. They got about as far as "happy" before they were all interrupted by our doorbell.

"Who on earth could be here at this hour?" my mother asked in a tone that greatly contrasted with her previously bubbly attitude. To her credit though, it was six-thirty in the morning. After hearing the doorbell ring one more time, my mom hustled off to answer our front door. The rest of my family waited awkwardly in the kitchen and overheard little snippets of the conversation between my mom and our visitors. It went a little something like this:

"Yes he is... How do you know... Well I suppose... He did WHAT?" mom yelled, causing everyone in the room to jump. "LINK, GET IN HERE!" I winced upon hearing my own name being uttered in such an aggressive tone. My mom is a nice lady, but when she's angry it's the stuff of nightmares.

I rushed out of the kitchen and towards our front door to see my mom looking so angry that her face was actually turning red. Standing just outside our door was an odd looking trio. There was a tall, lean woman with a stern face and silver hair pulled into a tight ponytail. She looked like she was around 40 or so, but something about her told me that she was not to be messed with. There was a guy who equaled the woman in height but looked far more relaxed and easy going. He stood with his hands jammed into the pockets of his ripped jeans and had long blonde hair that was pulled loosely into a ponytail that reached his lower back. He didn't look much older than me, like he might be a college student.

It was the shortest and obviously the youngest person of the group who grabbed the most attention though. Standing in the middle of the two figures, was a girl probably about my age who was easily the most gorgeous girl I'd ever seen. She was about my height and slender, but not thin. She had possibly the best posture I'd ever seen in my life, and even though she was just standing around, I could see that she a certain grace and elegance about her. Her golden blonde hair cascaded down to her shoulder blades and matched perfectly with her fair skin. What really got you about her, though, were her eyes. They were the biggest, brightest blue eyes I'd ever seen, and they had a spark of intelligence that was noticeable right off the bat.

As soon as I made eye contact with the girl I saw her breath hitch and some undecipherable emotion flashed across her face, but it was gone before I could make anything of it. I looked at the scene curiosity and then shot a glance at my mom who was looking at me with expectation that I hadn't the slightest clue about.

"Well, don't you have anything to say for yourself?" my mom said. I looked at her quizzically, having no idea as to what was going on.

"Happy birthday to me?" I said. The look on my mom's face was one that told me I should've been taking this whole thing a lot more seriously.

"This girl," my mom said while jabbing her finger towards the stunning blonde at our doorstep, "claims that you got her pregnant at a party last weekend." What followed was complete silence.

I shot a look of confusion/panic towards the girl whom I had never seen before in my life, and she winced and tried to hide her face which had turned a bright shade of red.

"Woah, slow down for a second," I said while putting my hands up defensively. "Let's backpedal real quick. I've never seen this girl before in my life! And I wasn't at any party last weekend. I was just hanging out at Colin's house." I wasn't lying either. Colin was a friend of mine who was just one grade below me. The previous Saturday night he had me and a few of the guys from the track team over to his house. All we did was play video games though, and there definitely hadn't been any girls. If I had ever seen that girl before I would've remembered her too. She was drop-dead gorgeous.

My mom opened her mouth to begin a fresh onslaught of accusations, but thankfully the girl interjected.

"Can I talk to you in private!" she blurted out. It didn't really sound like a question so much as a desperate plea. I gave my mom a pleading look and after a few seconds she finally sighed and nodded towards the door.

"Sure," I said. "Let's just step outside real quick." I stepped outside and closed the door behind me. As soon as I heard my moms footsteps walking away, the college aged guy burst out laughing. He was laughing so hard that he was doubled over and was fighting to suck in air.

"You should... have seen... look on your... hysterical!" he wheezed out in between fits of laughter. The blonde girl was still blushing furiously, and the tall woman was just shaking her head solemnly.

"Sheik, I can't believe you told his mother that!" the girl chastised. Then she turned to me and said "I'm so very sorry about his behavior. We needed to get you alone to talk to you, but we weren't planning on saying anything about... uh..."

"Anything about that," I finished.

"Yes," the girl echoed, a fresh blush rising to her cheeks. "Anything about that."

"We were going to tell your mother that Zelda was a classmate of yours and that she needed your help for a school project," the tall woman explained. "Although I don't think that is a viable excuse any longer."

I did a double take when she said "Zelda". It wasn't like people naming their daughters after the Princess of Legend was all that uncommon, but it was the kind of thing that always stood out. It was especially noteworthy this time, though, because this girl looked a lot like old descriptions and paintings of the Princess. Flowing blonde hair, bright blue eyes, a fair complexion, unmatched beauty. She fit the description to a tee.

"I'm so sorry to have caused so much trouble for you," Zelda said. "I promise we'll work out everything with your mother, isn't that right Sheik." Sheik, who had been lost in thought with a bored expression on his face suddenly snapped to attention.

"Oh yeah, course we will! No problemo," Sheik said.

"Yeah, thanks for that..." I said awkwardly. "So what's this all about anyways? What do you guys want with me?" As soon as I asked the question, the trio exchanged uneasy glances. They seemed to be having a telepathic argument amongst the three of them, with Zelda losing. The longer the silence drew out, the more my curiosity grew.

"Well, I'll go ahead and explain our situation since you asked, but it's really the kind of thing that's easier to show than it is to tell," Zelda said. "You're not likely to believe us, to be perfectly honest." Ever since learning that this girl's name was Zelda, I'd begun to notice that she even had a kind of regal way of speaking.

"Your highness, it is not wise to discuss such matters out in the open like this," the tall woman said. "We should exercise caution and find a more private place to speak."

"Impa! I told you not to call me that while we're here," Zelda said angrily.

"Did she just say 'your highness'?" I asked.

"My apologies Zelda," Impa said before turning to me. "I promise this will all make sense in time, Link.

"Look, how about it all starts making sense now," I said. I was tired and cranky and done of people not explaining things. I wanted some answers. "Just who the hell are you people? None of this makes any sense."

"You know, this would be a lot easier if we could just take him to the Temple of Time," Sheik said.

"The Temple of Time?" I said. "That's at least a two hour drive! If you people think you're about to get me to go that far without any kind of explanation, you belong in a mental hospital." I wasn't about to move two inches for these people without some kind of explanation, much less dozens of miles. I meant what I had said... until a certain beautiful teenaged girl intervened.

Zelda stepped forward and clasped my hand in between hers. She was uncomfortably close, and the scent of her intoxicating perfume pretty much knocked down all of my defenses.

"Please Link, I promise we'll explain as much as we can on the car ride to the Temple. And I promise that this all really will make sense if you come with us," Zelda said with a look in her eyes that I just couldn't quite place. "The very fate of the world rests on your shoulders. We need you."

I was at a loss for words, and Zelda's plea had raised more questions than it had answered, but one good look at those blue, pleading eyes told me that my decision had already been made. My life was about to get a lot less boring

Author's note: Hey everyone! If you're here I'll assume that you actually read this jumble of words I've concocted, so thanks a million! It really means a lot. This is my first attempt at fan fiction, so if the format is kind of weird or you have any suggestions or comments at all please feel free to review or message me. I'm hoping to turn this into a relatively long series, but I'd be lying if I said you could expect super frequent updates. Anywho, let me know what you thought about this story and if you'd like to see more. There's no such thing as bad feedback!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"So you mean to tell me that all those legends and stories that people tell their kids about the Hero of Legend and the Triforce and everything else are all true?" I said incredulously.

After a lengthy discussion/explanation/lie, Zelda, Impa, Sheik, and I had convinced my mom to let me go "work on a summer project" for the day with Zelda. I changed into a pair of actual pants, took some cake to go, and piled into a minivan with these three people that I barely knew. We were heading to the Temple of Time in Faron, which was about a two hour drive from Kakariko where I lived. It was a pretty popular tourist spot, but I'd never actually been.

After and hour or so of catching up on the sleep that I had so desperately missed, Zelda had started to explain that many of the stories that I had grown up believing as fairy tales were actually anything but. Naturally, I was a little bit skeptical, but there did seem to be something odd about Sheik, Impa, and Zelda. It definitely felt like they knew something I didn't. It was almost enough to make me believe them.

"Well, some of the stories have been changed or exaggerated a bit over the years, but for the most part yeah. It's all true," Sheik said from the driver's seat.

"So the Hero of Time was a totally real guy?" I said. "And the Twilight Crisis was real too?"

"Don't forget about the Hero of the Four Sword," Zelda chimed. I sat back dumbfounded, not because what they were saying was so ridiculous (although it was), but because I found myself really wanting to believe it. I'd spent years of my childhood waiting and praying for my own adventure to begin. I didn't dare believe that it could actually happen now.

"Ok, even if everything you guys are saying is true, which I don't believe it it, what does this have to do with me?" I said. "And why are we going to the Temple of Time?"

"Alright Link, let me answer your question with a question," Zelda said. "In all the legends in which the heroes of Hyrule must defeat the ancient evil, Ganon, what facts remain consistent?" I didn't even have to think about the answer it was so obvious.

"The Hero and the Princess had to combine forces to defeat him," I said. "It always takes Courage and Wisdom to overcome Power. That's how the Triforce is supposed to work, right? It takes two to overcome one."

"Yes, exactly!" Zelda said.

"Hey would you look at that, someone knows his history!" Sheik said. Which earned him a slap on the head and a stern "Eyes on the road," from Impa.

"Stop fighting you two!" Zelda chastised before turning her attention back to me. "So Link, what would happen if there were suddenly two people who held the Triforce of Power?" The question stumped me for a moment. It was something I had never really considered before, so I had to stop and think. After a little bit of thought though, the answer seemed somewhat obvious.

"Well, wouldn't that even the score? The holders of Courage and Wisdom wouldn't be able to defeat Power," I said. "It's impossible for the Triforce to split up like that though, isn't it?"

"Under normal circumstances, yes," said Impa.

"So I take it these aren't normal circumstances we're talking about here?" I said.

"No, I'm afraid they're not," Zelda said. I noticed Zelda's expression darken as she stared out the window of the car at the passing landscape. "These are dire circumstances indeed."

I looked around for a little while waiting for someone to elaborate on the subject, but all I got was an awkward silence. When it became clear that no one cared too much if I was left in the dark I figured I was just going to have to ask. I may not have believed the story that these people were telling me, but that didn't mean that I wasn't at least interested.

"Ok can someone please just give me the full story?" I said. "No more doom and gloom and vague statements. Just give it to me straight.

Zelda didn't really seem up for conversation anymore, so after a short pause Impa finally started to explain, saying "We weren't even aware that a new male had been born to the Gerudo tribe until a little less than two years ago. They kept it all very quiet until he was ready to lead the country. Once the new Gerudo King became of age, he began attacking villages on the outskirts of Hyrule and claiming land for the Gerudo."

I nodded, trying my best to follow along, but it was pretty clear that this was going to be a long and confusing explanation.

"Naturally, as soon as the King of Hyrule caught wind of these attacks he gathered up his troops and went to fight the enemy. When our troops got there though..." Impa said, and I noticed a small smile creep onto Zelda's face. "A young Hylian warrior had already raised a small force and taken up arms against the Gerudo. We didn't know it at first, but it soon became apparent that he was the Hero of Legend. The war against the Gerudo lasted many months, but at some point the Triforce of Power manifested within the Gerudo King who we had come to know as Ganondorf."

"As soon as we learned this, it became clear that Li–, that the hero and I would need to fulfill the prophecy that had been repeated so many times throughout history," Zelda said. "The Triforce of Wisdom was my birthright as eldest girl in the Royal Family, so I began to learn the sealing magic that it was my destiny to master."

"So you really are Princess Zelda," I said in both awe and disbelief. "But how is that possible? The Royal Family hasn't been a part of Hyrule for centuries now, and I thought the bloodline was lost too. Not to mention I haven't heard anything about the Gerudo starting a civil war."

"The bloodline _was_ lost. And you're right, the Gerudo have been a peaceful part of Hryule for a long time now," Sheik said. "That's the thing about Impa and the Princess here. They're not like us Link." I didn't really follow what Sheik was saying, but Zelda answered my question before I had a chance to ask it.

"We're from the past, Link," she said. "Everything Impa and I just explained happened over a thousand years ago." I think it was right around then that I really started to question everything they were telling me, no matter how much I wanted to believe it.

"You've gotta be kidding me right?" I said. "Look, not to be a jerk or anything, but how stupid do you think I am? Time travel, really?"

"No Link, you've got to believe us!" Zelda said, an expression of panic flashing across her face at the thought of my disbelief. "I promise you, everything we've told you up to this point is true."

"Goddesses, I can't believe I even got in the car and came this far with you all. I must be crazy," I said. "Sheik turn this thing around or stop so I can get out or something. I never should have even come this far."

"Sorry Link, but no can do. We're not stopping until we hit the Temple of Time," Sheik said.

"Link please just come to the Temple of Time and hear us out," Zelda said, and I could hear the desperation in her voice. "I promise it will all make sense once we get there. I understand we're asking a lot of you, but I just need you to trust us." I did my best to avoid looking at those blue eyes that has already convinced me to do one stupid thing today, but just feeling Zelda's gaze on me made it impossible.

I steeled my nerves and turned towards Zelda, prepared to stick to my guns and get the hell out of that car, but there was one thing that I couldn't have accounted for: tears. Zelda's eyes were brimming with tears, and for a moment she looked utterly overcome with fear. Either there was some truth to their story, or Zelda was the best actor I'd ever seen. Either way I caved, just like I'd known I would. I never did know how to handle crying girls.

"Alright, just keep explaining everything that happened... I guess," I said. I couldn't tell what to believe, but I was too far in to back out at that point.

After a brief pause, Impa broke the silence. She said "It wasn't long before Zelda had mastered the sealing magic necessary." As Impa was explaining I tried to act like I didn't notice Zelda wiping away her tears and composing herself. "Then the young Hylian's status of Hero was confirmed when he drew the Sword of Evil's Bane. The Master Sword."

"We assembled our forces for the final battle," Zelda said, having returned to her graceful self. "But something happened that we couldn't have planned for. When the hero and I reached Ganondorf... we found two of him. Each with their own Triforce of power."

"How is that even possible?" I asked.

"Ganondorf somehow gained access to the Temple of Time and used it to travel to a different era in Hyrule's history. We still have no idea where he came from," Zelda said. Suddenly, everything started to click into place.

"So I take it this is where I come in?" I said. Zelda gave me an apologetic look.

"We need you to tip the scales in Hyrule's favor," she said. "We need another bearer of the Triforce in order to overcome the two holders of power." I have to be honest, I got chills when Zelda told me that. A tiny part of me was leaping for joy, ready to believe all of these people and leap into harms way at a moments notice. I had to remind myself to do a reality check, to keep my hopes from getting too high. I was skeptical out of necessity.

"What makes you all so sure I'm the hero?" I said. In all my life, I had never done anything extraordinary or anything to set myself apart as a hero. I was average at sports but usually lost interest, I was decent at school but every subject bored the hell out of me, and I had never done anything remotely heroic in my whole life. "And how did you all find me anyways?"

"I believe that's where I come in," Sheik said.

"As soon as we learned what it would take to defeat Ganondorf, we made plans for the Sheikah to follow the bloodline of the hero for as many years as it would take until Zelda and I showed up one day," Impa explained. "There are Sheikah all over the world who have been keeping watch over you and many of your relatives, both near and distant, for generations. All so that we would be able to find the hero when the time came."

"Ok, but the bloodline of the hero must've spread pretty far by now. What makes you all so sure that _I'm_ the hero?" I asked.

Sheik seemed more than happy to jump in, saying "I'll admit, there was some debate amongst the members of my tribe as to who we should select once Impa and the princess arrived." Then a smirk crept up onto Sheik's face before he continued.

"In the end, though, I convinced them it should be you," he said.

"Based on what?" I said, still refusing to let myself totally believe any of what they were telling me.

"Mostly a hunch," Sheik said with a shrug. "But there was also just some look in your eyes that I just couldn't quite place. It made it impossible to deny you as a candidate. Plus, you and the hero of old share a name."

"Link..." I said just barely above a whisper. My own name had never felt so special.

"Now that I've seen you I'm sure of it," Zelda said. "After all, you look just like him."

 **Author's note: Hey all! Sorry for the overall shortness of this chapter. Also sorry for the boringness of this chapter. And I'm also sorry for the fact that this chapter is basically all explanations... Anyways it had to be done and I would've made it longer but this seemed like a more natural cutoff point for the chapter. I just wanna thank anyone who read or reviewed the last chapter, as well as the few people who followed the story of my account. I had no idea how much something like that could motivate me. It makes me want to write a lot more and upload a lot faster, so thanks a million. Anyways, as always any kind of review or message is welcome and appreciated. I promise the next chapter will be a good one! Peace.**


	3. Chapter 3

"Din, why is it so crowded in here?" Impa said with a scowl on her face. "It was completely empty when we first arrived."

"Maybe that has something to do with the fact that it was two in the morning when you got here," Sheik said.

After a lengthy car ride, Zelda, Impa, Sheik, and I had finally made it to the Temple of Time only to find that we would have to wait in a line a mile long just to get in. Faron wasn't a particularly large town, but the Temple of Time was a massive tourist hotspot and people came from far and wide just to get inside. I had never actually been myself, but I'd heard that it was pretty cool as far as large religious temples go.

We had to park a few blocks away from the Temple, and once we finished the walk up we found a massive crowd waiting in the plaza out front. It would take at least another hour to get through the line, and none of us were too excited to do any more waiting. I was surprised to find that the outside of the Temple didn't actually look all that interesting though. It pretty much looked like any other old, gray church.

"Well, I guess we're just gonna have to get in line and wait," I said dejectedly.

"Actually," Sheik said with a smirk as he pulled out his wallet. "Lucky for the three of you, the Sheikah are in charge of maintaining this place, so we don't have to wait for anything." Sheik then pulled a blue identification card out of his wallet. On the card was a Sheikah symbol and small picture of Sheik. I caught a glance of the writing on the card, but it was in some strange language that I didn't recognize.

I guess Sheik noticed me noticing, because he said "The writing's all in Sheikah so that most people can't read it. Helps us stay anonymous."

Sheik led us around the side of the building to a door that was much smaller and less impressive than the massive double doors that made up the actual entrance. He slid his blue card through a scanner, and the door 'clicked' as it was unlocked. Sheik went in first and the rest of us followed single file through the door.

Upon entering, the first thing I noticed was that the entire inside was almost nothing but white. Marble floors connecting to white-wash walls and white stairs leading up to a shiny white altar. It was insanely bright inside, and I had to shield my eyes for a few seconds while they adjusted. The next thing I noticed was that it was totally empty on the inside despite the massive crowd outside. There were also big stained glass windows on each side depicting various goddesses as well as some of the old legends about the Hero and the Princess' eternal struggle with evil.

I was standing at the entrance gawking, but everyone else seemed totally unfazed. It was clear that they had been here plenty of times before. I quickly realized that I was being left behind and jogged to catch up.

We walked up the stairs and behind the big altar to the wall in the back when Sheik turned and said "Alright, I'll go ahead and open up the inner sanctum for you guys and get the door behind you just in case someone tries to sneak in. It's still early so we won't open the doors to tourists for another 30 minutes or so, but you can never be too careful."

"Wait, so you won't be coming with us?" I said.

"Bringing one person to the past is dangerous enough," Zelda said. "We wouldn't want to take any unnecessary risks."

"Besides, you'll need someone to open the door when you get back Link. Although, I bet in my time you'll only be gone for about ten minutes or so," Sheik said.

"Oh yeah, I hadn't even stopped to think about that," I said and then turned to Zelda. "Just how long will this take?" Although I still had no idea what "this" was.

"Well, it's just like Sheik said. When you get back likely only a few minutes in your time will have passed," Zelda said. "Should you see that we're telling the truth and agree to help us, you could be in the past for weeks or even months. It just depends on how long it takes to defeat Ganondorf."

"And that's assuming we actually succeed at all," Impa said.

"Impa! We can't start talking like that now. We have to stay positive," Zelda said.

"That's all good and well princess, but I want Link to be aware of the risks he's taking," Impa said sternly. "This is not a game or some fairy tale. This is war. Do you understand that?" It was hard, but I met Impa's gaze and nodded. Truth be told, I didn't really understand anything, but I knew that I didn't want to let Zelda down.

"Alright, now that that's all settled, let's send you three to the past!" Sheik said with way too much excitement. "Link you'll probably want me to hold onto your phone and wallet, since people from the past won't really know what they are."

"Right, good point," I said taking my wallet and phone out of my pocket. I would have been more nervous about giving my stuff to a stranger, but there was no money in my wallet and my phone was cheap as hell. I handed them over to Sheik and he walked over to the altar and pressed some kind of hidden switch underneath it. The massive wall behind the altar started to slide sideways in a way that should've been impossible. Once it had slid away, it revealed a large chamber with tall, looming windows that let sunlight pour into the room. At the center of the room was a small platform with a pedestal that was about a foot high.

"Ta-da!" Sheik said and slapped me on the back. "Welcome to your time machine. Please keep your legs and arms inside the ride at all times and try not to have a panic attack when you realize there is no more Internet or air conditioning."

I walked tentatively into the room, looking all the time for any kind of indication that this room allowed time travel, but coming up with nothing.

"It just looks like an empty room to me," I said.

"It certainly looks that way, but I can assure you that the inner sanctum has magical properties that amplify the power of a very important tool," Zelda said. She then reached into her small purse and pulled out a blue ocarina.

"Wait a minute, is that the Ocarina of Time?" I said in disbelief. "The one used by the Hero of Time himself?"

Zelda seemed to take pride in how impressed I was by the instrument as she smiled and said "It certainly is. The Ocarina is a relic of the Royal Family, and it is the very same one that was used by the Hero."

"Wow, that's amazing!" I said as I eyed the craftsmanship of the instrument. Zelda held it out for me too look at and I ogled at the ornate designs. Just looking at the Ocarina made me feel an excitement that I hadn't felt since I was a little kid. I even thought about asking Zelda if I could hold it. I really was going crazy.

"Princess, we really ought to be getting back as soon as we can. We've no time for games," Impa said. I noticed that she had picked up some neatly folded clothes off of the ground, and was bending over to pick up another set of clothes that looked like a prom dress. A pout flashed across Zelda's fade for a second, but it was quickly replaced by a look of determination.

"Yes, of course. My apologies Impa," Zelda said, all business. "I do hate that I'll be forced to put those dreadfully uncomfortable clothes back on though. The outfits of the future are so much more comfortable." I hadn't even thought to take note of Zelda's clothes since she was just in normal street wear (jean shorts and a white blouse), but it made sense that their clothes from the past would be a different from modern outfits.

"Ok, looks like this is where my job ends and yours begins," Sheik said. He walked over to the altar and pressed the switch underneath it, sending the wall into motion. "Good luck you three. I guess if nothing changes I'll know you guys succeeded. If the world goes up in flames... well let's try not to think about it."

I kept my eyes on Sheik's face as the wall moved the last few inches to close off the inner sanctum, effectively sealing us in. He had a confident grin plastered to his face, which seemed way too optimistic given our circumstances. Once the wall was back in place, I turned towards Impa and Zelda who were looking at me expectantly.

"So, we're really going to the past huh?" I said awkwardly.

"As strange as it may sound, yes," Zelda said as she brought the ocarina up to her mouth. "Are you ready Link?"

I hesitated for a moment, just a moment, before looking at Zelda and saying "As ready as I'll ever be." She nodded and smiled, apparently happy with my response, and started to play a simple tune on the instrument.

The song didn't last very long, but as soon as it had finished light began to rush into the chamber from the windows all around. I had to shield my eyes because it was so bright, and at some point I felt a strange tingling sensation and a tug in my gut. Once I could tell that the light wasn't nearly as intense anymore, I slowly opened my eyes to see the very same room that I'd been in before. The whole ordeal only lasted about 20 seconds.

I looked over at a Sheik and Zelda who looked as calm as if they did this everyday. "So was that it?" I asked. "Are we in the past?"

"It appears so," Zelda said, motioning to something behind me. I looked over my shoulder to find that the door to the inner sanctum was open and that there was an entire entourage outside waiting for us. There were maybe six guys in medieval soldiers uniforms and a couple girls in maid outfits. I also noticed two suspicious looking guys with skintight blue and white body suits on. On their chests was the telltale red eye of the Sheikah.

The two maids immediately rushed towards us, stopping about five feet short and bowing deeply.

"Your highness, we are glad to see you are well," the one on the right said. Then eyeing me she said "We trust the mission was a success?"

Zelda strode over to them and placed a gentle hand on the girl on the left's shoulder. She then turned to everyone and said "We have succeeded in finding another hero." Zelda didn't really say it with much flair or excitement, but that didn't stop everyone in the room from cheering enthusiastically. It made me realize just how desperate their situation must have been. It was daunting.

All of the soldiers, excluding the Sheikah in the back, crowded around me and started to bombard me with questions. There were so many that I didn't have any time to answer a single one.

"Is it true you're from the future?"

"Are you just as good with a sword as Sir Link?"

"Are you and Sir Link related in any way? You look exactly alike!"

I was completely overwhelmed by the onslaught of questions, but thankfully a booming voice sounded out and quieted all the soldiers.

"Men, that is ENOUGH! I'm sure the young man will be more than happy to answer your questions later, but for now let's give him some space," said the voice. Suddenly, an impossibly large soldier pushed his way through the crowd and took his place next to me. He was clearly older than the rest of the soldiers, but still probably just in his early thirties. He was easily 6'6, barrel chested, and had short, choppy black hair. "You were all selected to accompany the Princess here because I felt that you all had some level of maturity. I doubt I need to remind you just how confidential everything we're doing is. So please, calm down and let the man get settled," the he said.

"Thank you, Captain Jeero," Impa said as she took the place to my other side. As soon as the younger soldiers saw her, they backed up fearfully in a way that was almost comical. I knew I was right to think that Impa wasn't to be messed with.

"Sorry about that son," Captain Jeero said to me and reached out his hand for me to shake. "Most of our experienced soldiers are holding down the front lines, so I had to bring a couple of boys fresh out of training camp."

"Yeah, no worries," I said as I grabbed his hand. He practically broke my hand and pulled my arm out of socket when he shook it, but he seemed nice enough.

"As I'm sure you already heard, my name's Captain Jeero. I take care of all the young bucks, so you and I should be working together quite a bit over the next few weeks," he said.

"My name's Link," I said awkwardly. "I'm looking forward to it, I guess." At the mention of my name most of the soldiers gawked at me.

"So his name is also Link?" one of the soldiers asked.

"Yes it is, and as a matter of fact, Link has serious business to attend to so I would appreciate it if you allow him to get to it," Zelda said from the doorway. I was surprised by how stern she could sound at first, but the more I thought about it the more sense it made. She was royalty after all.

Zelda had changed into an elegant pink and white dress and adorned herself with some pretty fancy looking jewelry. If she hadn't already, she certainly looked the part of princess now. It took all my willpower to keep my jaw from dropping. "Link come here for a moment. We have to get you changed so that you won't stand out too much," she said.

I walked back into the main part of the temple to Zelda who was holding a bundle of blue clothes. When I reached her she held out the clothes for me to take and motioned towards a corner of the room that had been sealed off by curtains to create some measure of privacy.

"I hope the clothes are to your liking," she said. "They should fit you reasonably well, but if they don't you should only have to deal with them until we reach the castle."

I thanked Zelda and moved behind the lavender curtains. I figured I would need to abandon all of my clothes from the future (even if it meant parting with my lucky boxers), but let me tell you, the past does not offer very comfortable undergarments. I also had a rough pair of tan trousers, thick leather boots, a white undershirt, and a simple blue tunic. It all fit surprisingly well, and was different but not necessarily bad. I kinda liked the medieval look I had going.

When I came out from behind the curtains a Sheikah took my future-clothes and walked off with them.

"Don't worry, we'll keep all your belongings safe until you're ready to go back," Zelda said. She then looked me up and down with a pleased expression. "I think that outfit suits you quite well. It's not exactly the traditional garb of the hero, but the blue looks good on you."

Words cannot express how annoyed I was with myself when I had to fight off a blush.

"Thanks, I thought it would be really uncomfortable, but it's actually not too shabby," I said.

"Shabby?" Zelda said with a perplexed look on her face.

"Oh, sorry," I said when I realized that there was no way people from literally hundreds of years ago would understand modern colloquialisms. "It's a kind of a future phrase..."

"Ah, yes, of course," Zelda said awkwardly. "Well we'd better get going if we want to reach the castle by nightfall. Perhaps you can explain what it means to be 'shabby' on the way there."

I couldn't help but laugh at Zelda's awkward use of 'shabby' and I guess my laugh was infectious because eventually Zelda elicited a few giggles.

"Princess, the preparations have been made to depart," Impa called from the doorway of the Temple. Impa had also changed into a skintight blue suit of the Sheikah.

"Thank you Impa," Zelda replied. "Shall we be going Link?" I nodded at Zelda and the two of us made our way too the door. As were were leaving, I noticed that the curtains I had changed behind had already been taken down. I figured traveling with portable changing rooms must be par for the course when you're a princess.

Outside, all the soldiers were readying their horses for travel, and there were two horse drawn carriages. What was surprising, though, was that we were completely surrounded by forest. There was a small dirt path that went off through the woods, but that was it.

As if detecting my confusion, Zelda said "There's a village just a ways down the road, but the area around the Temple of Time is nothing but forest. I suspect that the town we saw in your era won't be built for quite some time." If there had been any doubt left in me as to whether or not I was actually in the past, it completely vanished after hearing that.

Zelda, her two maids, and I all climbed into one carriage and Impa, Captain Jeero, and the two Sheikah all got into the other one. The rest of the soldiers road on horse back. Zelda explained that under normal circumstances, a teenage boy wouldn't have been let into the same carriage as the princess, but there were two reasons why I was the exception to the rule: 1.) it was best if I wasn't seen by the public so as to avoid confusion (apparently this other Link was quite the celebrity) and 2.) Zelda had some important 'intel' she needed to pass along. Really she just wanted me to explain what shabby meant.

Apparently it was still midmorning when we left the Temple of Time, and it was roughly a day's journey to get to the castle. After asking roughly seven million questions about the future that I answered to the best of my ability, Zelda explained as much as she could about the Hyrule of olden days.

I would gaze out the window at vast plains or small farming villages and Zelda would tell me all about them. I had never realized just how beautiful of a country Hyrule was until I saw it without all the roads, buildings, and people. Of course there were some landmarks that I recognized like Death Mountain, which could be seen from almost anywhere in the Kingdom. The whole carriage ride was pretty surreal. I kept expecting myself to suddenly wake up and realize that it was all a dream, but that moment never came.

Zelda's maids were basically silent for the entire journey. I couldn't tell if they were nervous or just plain awkward. They did make a nice lunch of soup and bread for us when we stopped to take a break at the halfway point though. Once we started to get close to our destination, Zelda decided it was time to get down to business.

"Once we reach the castle you'll begin training with Captain Jeero," Zelda said. "We'll need to turn you into a proper knight if we're to have any hope of defeating Ganondorf." I elected not to mention that it would technically be "Ganondorfs".

"Once you move onto more advanced training you'll start training with Link," Zelda said. When she noticed my confused expression she quickly added "the other Link."

"Right, of course," I said still trying to get a grip on the strange circumstances I'd found myself in. "So what happens after I become a master swordsman? We just go knocking on Ganon's front door and run him through with a blade?"

"Something like that..." Zelda said. Her expression was not very convincing. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there. For now you should just focus on your training."

"Whatever you say Zelda," I said with a shrug. I knew that I was blindly agreeing to a plan that I realistically knew nothing about, but come on, who else was I gonna trust?

"Oh right, I've been meaning to mention this. Once we get to the castle, I'm going to have to ask that you refer to me as Princess Zelda, or your highness," she said. I could tell from her expression that it wasn't something she enjoyed asking me to do. "It's just that my father as well as the nobility are very strict with all their proceedings, and I'm afraid they wouldn't approve of you going around using my first name so casually."

"Oh yeah, of course. Sorry about that," I said. I felt like a complete idiot for not having thought of that sooner. She was literally royalty, and I was going around treating her like some girl I'd met at the mall. Still, I couldn't help but feel a little bummed out at the fact that I couldn't even call her by her name. "I'll try my best to remember that, Princess." I noticed Zelda's smile drop a bit at the mention of her title.

"Thank you Link. It was nice to hear someone call me by my name for once though, if only for a little while," she said.

The next hour or so passed in silence, and I spent most of my time just gazing out the window of the carriage. Soon, I could see the castle of Hyrule looming in the distance just over the hills of Hyrule field.

Once Zelda noticed how close we were to our destination, she turned to me and said "Well Link, I hope you've enjoyed yourself thus far, because now the real work begins."

 _Thank Hylia for that,_ I thought.

 **Author's note: Alright, chapter three is in the books! I'm so excited that we're finally getting into the meat of this story. Things are gonna get real crazy real fast, so be prepared. I'm starting to realize that I can churn out these chapters a lot faster than I originally thought, so keep an eye out for updates. As always, any feedback is good feedback, so feel free to drop a review or PM me anytime. Peace!**


	4. Chapter 4

The rest of the trip through Castletown and up towards the castle was relatively uneventful. Even though it was impossible to see into the carriage once we put the curtains down, it wasn't hard for people to figure out that _somebody_ important was riding along. I guess the full-blown military escort was kind of a giveaway. It wasn't long before people were lining the streets and trying to get a peek at who was roaming around with so much security personnel. I think one of Zelda's maids contemplated stabbing me with a butter knife when I pulled back the curtain to get a look at the city.

"Sorry about that Link," Zelda said. "We have to be sure that no one knows that the Royal Family has been traveling during times of war. It could arouse suspicion. Not to mention it would take us ages to reach the castle if people knew I was in here. The poor guards are having trouble controlling the crowd as it is."

"Yeah, no worries. I guess that's kind of par for the course when you're a princess, huh?" I said. It wasn't until I saw Zelda's confused expression that I realized I'd used another modern colloquialism. This was gonna take some getting used too.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite get that," she said. "Par for the what?"

"Oh, it's another modern phrase. It just means that this is normal for someone in your position," I said. "Sorry Princess, I'm still having trouble getting used to all of this."

"No no, it's quite alright. I'm sure this is all terribly difficult for you," she said. After that a long period of silence fell over the carriage and lasted basically until we were within the gates surrounding the castle. We could finally pull back the curtains again and for the first time in my life I got to see Hyrule Castle in all of its grandeur.

The first thing that stood out was just how absolutely massive the place was. Its thick, cobblestone walls stretched towards sky and contained a seemingly endless number of windows, revealing the castle's numerous floors and rooms. Guards lined the walls as well as every entrance that could be seen, and looming towers sprouted up in several places throughout. The sun was setting just over the center of the castle, making the scene even more breathtaking than I could have imagined.

I didn't have much time to take in my surroundings though, because once we were well within the courtyard the doors of the carriage were flung open by Captain Jeero.

"Alright Link, why don't you come with me before too many guards come around and start wondering why a young commoner was traveling with the princess," he said. "Also, a few of the more seasoned guards are familiar with the Link of our time, and I'm sure seeing you would generate a lot of confusion. We need to keep your origins a secret, so lets get a move on." Captain Jeero placed his hand firmly on my back and began to usher me away before Zelda spoke up.

"Captain before you whisk him away I'd like to have a word with our newest soldier, if you wouldn't mind it too terribly," Zelda said, and I was conscious of how much I liked the way she spoke to her underlings as if they didn't actually have to listen to her if they didn't want to.

"Why yes of course, Princess," he said. He then gave me a sly look before shooing me back over to Zelda.

"What's up—er I mean, what did you need Princess?" I said.

"I just wanted to speak with you before you go, because once you start your basic training we likely won't be seeing much of each other," Zelda said. "I'd like to thank you for coming here and for believing my words. I understand this must be an incredible burden on you. You are doing all of Hyrule a great service."

Her outward gratitude made me feel kind of warm and fuzzy inside, and I wanted to return her appreciation with mountains of confidence and a promise to save her kingdom, but we both knew I couldn't do that.

Instead I just tried to play it off saying "Well don't thank me yet. I still haven't done anything really." I noticed Zelda's smile drop, so I decided I would at least try to give her something to set her mind at ease. "I do promise to give it my all though. I'll do everything I can to be the hero you guys need me to be."

The smile returned to her face and she said "That's all we can really ask of you, Link,"

After that Captain Jeero led me to the west wing of the Castle where the barracks were. Thankfully the path there from the courtyard wasn't too complicated so I was pretty sure I could memorize it.

In here I wouldn't be getting any special treatment, and I was forced to share a room with around 20 other recruits. They provided plenty of clothes and supplies for me, and I got stuck with a bottom bunk. Most people would consider this a bad thing, but I actually usually preferred bottom bunks. Something about sleeping high off the ground always made it hard for me to relax.

As Captain Jeero showed me around the rest of the grounds he explained how my training would go.

"You're coming in at the same time as a batch of fresh recruits so you'll be put through basic training just like anyone else," he said. "The only difference is that, in the interest of time, you'll be allowed to advance much more quickly than most soldiers. The moment you show mastery of the basics in one skill you'll be moved to the next lesson. Time is of the essence, and we need to mold you into an elite soldier in just a few months time."

I guess the fear showed in my face because Captain Jeero laughed and said "Don't worry lad. If you're anything like the Link we've all come to know you'll be a natural! Basic training should be a breeze."

I decided not to share the fact that I had lost the only two fights I'd ever been considering it probably wouldn't have done much to set everyone's minds at ease.

"Well Link, I'll go ahead and show you the mess hall and we can get some dinner," he said. "You should be sure to eat plenty of food and get some rest. Training starts tomorrow!" I did my best to smile and look excited, but on the inside all I felt was nervous.

The rest of the recruits arrived at the castle just in time for dinner. Most of them already seemed somewhat acquainted with at least one other person so I just sat by myself off to the side. Captain Jeero ate in the Captain's quarters and had some decent food instead of the nasty soup and stale bread that the recruits were treated to.

Later we were led back to the bedroom where everyone got situated and people started getting to know each other. I tried making conversation a few times, but the whole thousand-year-age-gap thing kinda made socializing difficult.

I was sitting on my bed awkwardly, unsure of whether or not I should just try to get some sleep until a boy with long, purple hair sauntered up and unceremoniously threw his bag onto the bunk above me.

"Alright, top bunk!" he said. He turned his attention towards me and stuck his hand out for me to shake. "I guess that makes you my bunkmate. The name's Kafei, Kafei Dotour. Pleased to meet you!"

I stood up to shake his hand and said "Likewise, I'm Link Forrester." I was just a little bit taller than Kafei, which made him pretty short. His purple hair was combed back and fell just above his shoulders, and he had purple eyes to match. He had a hell of a strong handshake though, so I decided to be sure I didn't underestimate his strength just because of his stature and boyish features.

"Woah, Link as in the famous warrior Link from the Faron Province?" Kafei said in disbelief. I noticed a few of the other recruits look over at us suspiciously so I faked a laugh as best as I could.

"The only thing he and I share is a name," I said. "That Link character sure has become quite the celebrity though hasn't he?"

Now that we were on the topic of the Hero of Hyrule, Kafei's face seemed to light up. His body practically shook with excitement as he spoke.

"Well yeah of course he is! He practically halted the entire Gerudo army single-handedly before the military showed up. He's the whole reason I joined the gaurd!" Kafei said. Then he leaned in and whispered excitedly "You know, I've heard he's actually claimed the _Master Sword_! Could you imagine if we actually got to meet him in person?"

I nodded and tried to seem as excited as Kafei was, but mostly I was just in disbelief. I wondered just how many teenagers had rushed off to join the war effort in hopes of meeting this Link guy. And even crazier still, I was supposed to be his equal.

I seemed to have my work cut out for me, but I had gained somewhat of a friend in Kafei, who seemed nice enough even if he was a little over-enthused, so at least I had made some semblance of progress.

Pretty soon the night started winding down and people were getting ready for bed. Training started at the crack of dawn and we knew we had to be well rested, but I couldn't sleep a wink. I stayed up for hours, worrying about whether or not I could live up to everyone's expectations. At some point I started to wonder if I'd made a mistake in agreeing to all this—if Sheik had made a mistake in choosing me.

Mistake or not, though, I was already here and I knew it was too late to turn back. When I finally did fall asleep, I fell asleep feeling determined.

* * *

"Alright, the match up is Forrester against Skye! Get out here soldiers!" Sergeant Finch shouted and I inwardly groaned. This could not have been a worse matchup.

Roughly three weeks had passed since basic training had started. I was in pretty good shape from the few sports I played in high school, and I found that I liked the physical workouts and long runs. Archery had come relatively easily to me, and it wasn't long before I was the best archer in our class. I wasn't exactly a deadeye, but I was certainly passable. Even horseback riding was easy to get the hang of despite how awkward it felt at first.

Sergeant Finch was technically in charge of training the recruits, but Captain Jeero still stopped by frequently and offered me as many tips as he could. Things were going relatively well on my path to becoming a hero, but there was just one small problem…

"Alright, sounds like an easy win for me," my gargantuan red-headed opponent said. "Hope you're ready to get your ass kicked Forrester."

"Can it Groose," I said as I stepped into the ring. Twice a week all the recruits got paired up randomly and had to spar. Everyone had to use the same armor, which I found to be a little too clunky, but you could choose whatever close-quarters weapon you wanted. I always went for the one handed longsword and shield, and Groose used a simple spear.

I stood at the ready and eyed Groose down as best as I could, but it was kind of hard when he had at least six inches and a hundred pounds on me.

"Ready… begin!" Sergeant Finch yelled.

As soon as the match began Groose rushed me, just like I knew he would. I guarded with my shield and the spear glanced right off, leaving Groose's left wide open for an instant. All I'd have to do was step in and swing, but I hesitated for too long and gave Groose a chance to get back on the offensive. I could block or parry all of his hits relatively easily, but I couldn't gain any ground. I'd gotten pretty good at defending after getting the Din beaten out of me so many times.

Blow after blow came. Each time I blocked with perfection and created an opening. Each time I hesitated to make the final move. Any swings I could get in were reserved and defensive. This was how things had been for weeks.

The general motions and strategizing for fights had taken more time to learn, but those eventually came to me too. I _knew_ how to fight; that wasn't really the problem. I hated to admit it, but the problem was that I was afraid. Afraid to hurt someone, afraid to drop my defense and get hurt, afraid that I would let everyone down. I was just afraid.

The fight dragged on, and after a while my shield arm started to feel heavy. I could feel fatigue seeping into my legs, and my movements were becoming more and more slow by the second.

I was an instant too late moving to guard one of Groose's attacks, and the swing knocked me off balance. He took that chance to jab me right in the gut and send me sprawling to the ground. The blades were dulled but it still hurt like hell. Sergeant Finch started yelling that the match was over, and Groose sauntered over to his friends to start bragging.

On the inside I was seething, but part of me had known that this would be the outcome. Groose was the best in our class when it came to sparring, and I was easily the worst. I hadn't won even a single match. I was proving to be one sorry excuse for a hero.

 **Author's note: Oh gosh, I am really sorry about how long this update took. It turns out graduating from high school and getting a job takes up a lot of your time and mental capacity. Also I'm pretty lazy, but I really want to start updating more frequently! I know this chapter was short, but I wanted to go ahead and get some kind of update out there. As always, any and all reviews are appreciated. To those of you with questions, my simple answer is to stay patient. All will be answered in good time. If you actually read this, thanks a million! Have a nifty day!**


	5. Chapter 5

"C'mon Link, don't be so down. You'll get him next time!" Kafei said before taking a bite of bread.

I just kept absentmindedly swirling my spoon around my bowl of soup and said "Oh yeah, sure. I haven't won a single match yet, but yeah, of course I can beat the best fighter in our class!" When I looked up from my soup to see Kafei's annoyed face I realized I was being a brat. "Sorry man, I'm just frustrated is all."

"Don't worry about it, I get it," Kafei said with a shrug. "What I don't get though is why you can't win any matches. I mean, your advice on everyone's weaknesses is the only reason I've been able to hold my own. You clearly know _how_ to beat everyone."

"Yeah, believe me, it's even more frustrating for me than it is for you," I said. I was just about to get back to eating my poor excuse of a dinner when I heard my name being called.

"Forrester, get over here," Sergeant Finch called. I immediately rose from my seat and went over to the door where he was. "Captain Jeero wants to talk to you. Report to his quarters as soon as you finish dinner.

After a quick "yes sir" I hurried back to the table, shoveled the rest of my dinner into my mouth, and started towards Captain Jeero's quarters which was basically just an office with a bed shoved in one corner.

I knocked on the door and heard Captain Jeero say "Come in" before I pulled the door open. When I walked in he was bent over a stack of paperwork writing furiously with one hand and raking the other through his hair. Whatever he was doing clearly wasn't a stress reliever.

When he looked up and realized it was me he said "Oh Link, it's you! Please, have a seat."

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" I asked as I took the seat opposite him, although I was fairly sure I knew what he wanted to talk about.

"I watched your match today," Captain Jeero said, and I could already feel the embarrassment. "Most of your movements were sharp, and you lasted quite a while without having any sort of offense. I'm assuming you know that you had him beat within the first few moments."

"I had an opening," I said plainly. "I'm not exactly sure you could say I had him beat."

"Oh believe me, the match was already won," he said. There was a relatively long pause before he spoke again. "Do you know what your problem is Link?" he asked.

I swallowed hard before replying "I'm afraid… I'm too afraid to take any risks." I braced myself for the harsh truth; for Captain Jeero to tell me that I was right, and that I wasn't fit to be a hero. It was the truth that I'd been trying to ignore, but it had always been at the back of my mind. I knew it, and Captain Jeero had to know it too.

"No Link, that's not it at all," Captain Jeero said both to my relief and my surprise. "Your problem is that you think courage is about not having fear at all."

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked. I was still kind of reeling from not having my biggest fears confirmed.

"I could go on, but I think there's someone who will be able to explain it better than I can," he said as he rose from his seat. "Princess Zelda heard that you've been struggling with your lessons lately so she was hoping to speak to you."

I felt a strange surge of guilt and excitement surge through me at the mention of Zelda. I felt bad about the fact that I was letting her down, but even that couldn't keep me from being at least a little bit excited at the prospect of seeing her again.

Captain Jeero made his way to the door and when he saw that I still hadn't stood to follow him he said "Link, are you coming?"

"Oh right, sorry," I said as I got up. I followed Captain Jeero out of his quarters and through a multitude of hallways that I was sure I'd never been through. It was pretty clear that we were moving away from the soldiers' area and getting dangerously close to the nobles' living quarters since the decorations were becoming more and more extravagant.

We came to the end of one hallway with a particularly large set of doors at the end before the captain stopped.

"This is the royal library. Go ahead and head on in, but Princess Zelda is inside so be on your best behavior," Captain Jeero said. I nodded and cautiously made my way into the library.

When I walked in I was almost surprised by the sheer volume of books and gargantuan size of the library, but by that point I'd pretty much stopped getting impressed by size alone since practically everything in the castle was monolithic. I still loved the smell of the library though. Some things never change.

I spotted Zelda sitting in a cozy looking reading chair with her nose buried in a book.

"Whatcha reading there?" I called out, and when Zelda turned around with an almost humorously shocked expression I realized that I'd completely forgotten my manners.

"Oh shoot, that's not what I'm supposed to do," I said in a panic and immediately dipped into a bow. "My a-apologies, your highness." I was nervous for a second, but all my worries went away as soon as I heard a giggle escape Zelda's lips.

"That's quite alright Link," she said with a playful smile. "There's no one around besides the books, and I don't think they'll tell anyone that you nearly gave me a heart attack."

I laughed sheepishly, thankful for Zelda's light-hearted nature, and got down to business.

"So, I guess you heard about how poorly I've been doing in training." I said. It was much easier to admit than I had expected, but I still felt a pang of guilt and embarrassment.

"You know, all of your instructors have told me that they feel you have great potential," she said with considerable care and caution. "Its just as if something is… holding you back."

I knew where the conversation was going, and I didn't like it. I couldn't even look Zelda in the eyes when I told her "It's because I'm afraid. I can't stop worrying about hurting someone, or getting hurt, or…"

"Or not being able to fulfill your duty as a hero," Zelda finished dejectedly. Something in the way she said it made it sound like Zelda wasn't a stranger to having trouble living up to expectations. I sensed that there might be more to Zelda than the confident, pleasant princess she appeared to be.

"Yeah, that," I said and I still couldn't meet her gaze. "I'm sorry, I just don't think I'm cut out to be a soldier, much less a hero."

A long silence fell over the room. I just stared at my shoes, or the books, or anything that could keep me from having to look into Zelda's disappointed expression. I didn't want to face the possibility of letting her down, and it was starting to seem like a reality.

"Link," she said, finally breaking the silence. "What do you think it means to be courageous?" Her question caught me off guard, so I couldn't really think of anything profound to say.

"I don't know… I guess it means that you don't get scared in the face of adversity," I said.

"That's not was courage is, Link," Zelda said, and then she lifted my chin and forced me to look her in those sparkling blue eyes. "Every one of us, even our most seasoned veterans, feels fear in times of danger. It's impossible not to. But courage is all about being able to set that fear aside, and to act in spite of your fear. To do what needs to be done for the greater good, even when every fiber of your being is begging you not to. And I know you have it Link."

Even with her eyes pleading with me to be brave I couldn't help but have my doubts, no matter how badly I wanted her to be right.

"What makes you so sure?" I asked. Surprisingly, she smiled warmly at my question.

"You're here," Zelda said simply. "You've agreed to leave everything behind and risk your life to save Hyrule. Strangers showed up on your doorway with a ridiculous request and you've answered the call. What could possibly be braver than that?"

* * *

"Alright soldiers, time for sparring!" Sergeant Finch yelled. "Our first matchup will be—"

"Actually sir, if it's alright I'd like to challenge Skye," I said. Practically everyone in the room did a double take once they realized just what I was saying. The worst fighter in the class openly challenging the best in the class. Groose almost immediately burst out laughing.

"Really Forrester? I knew you were stupid, but this is a little much. You must have a death wish," Groose said to the delight of pretty much all the other recruits.

"That's enough Skye," Sergeant Finch said. "Forrester if you're up for it I don't have any objections. It's about time someone in this class showed a little backbone!"

On the way to ring Groose bumped my shoulder and said "If you think you're on my level, you're not. I hope you're ready for a pummeling.

"Trash talk Groose?" I said. "What's the matter? You afraid someone might dethrone you?"

The two of us glared at each other all the way into the ring. As Sergeant Finch counted down I tried to remember all the words that Zelda had told me. I felt fear rising up, but instead of focusing on the fear I just thought about her. I focused on the strategies that I knew would beat Groose. I remembered the way Zelda told me she believed in me, and how much everyone depended on me. My fears had to come second to that.

"Ready… begin!" Finch yelled, and Groose and I both ran straight at each other. I could immediately tell that I had caught him off guard, and he took an off balance swing with his spear to try to slow me down. It was a weak attack so I kept running, knocking away his spear with my shield as I went. An instant was all it took to get in close enough to attack. I planted my right foot and drove my sword up and to the left with all my strength. I hit Groose in the ribs, denting his armor and sending him sprawling across the ring. There was a brief moment of silence as all of the recruits processed what had just happened, and then they all erupted in to cheers.

I smirked at the rest of the class, drinking in the sense of triumph and riding on the adrenaline rush from the match as I said "Alright, who's next?"

 **Author's note: Alright, chapter 5 is officially up! hopefully this chapter wasn't too short or anything. It took a little longer to write than I was hoping, but considering I just moved into college, I'll take it. Let me know what you thought of this chapter, or of the series as a whole so far. There's no such thing as bad feedback! Have a good one, and don't forget to check back regularly for updates. I just might surprise you.**


	6. Chapter 6

After beating Groose, I proceeded to win ten straight matches against all the best fighters in our class. It was tiring for sure, but my adrenaline was running so high that I barely noticed. It almost goes without saying that Captain Jeero immediately told me that I was ready to move on to more advanced training. I'd be doing mostly one on one classes with the best instructors that Hyrule had to offer. It was daunting, but so was everything else up to that point.

"I still can't believe it," Kafei said excitedly. "I mean, ten matches in a row! That's unheard of. That has to be some kind of record or something."

"Well, let's not get too carried away," I said as I finished packing up the last of my few belongings. I would be moving out of the recruits' barracks the next morning, so I had to be ready to go. "I've still got a long ways to go."

I was trying my best to be modest, but in all honesty I couldn't help but be a little bit excited. I had never thought of myself as a fighter, but I was beginning to think that it could be a reality.

"Well, you looked like a top notch soldier to me," Kafei said. "I am a little surprised that they're bumping you up to advanced training so quickly though. Usually you spend a little bit of time working guard duty or some other grunt work after graduating from training. I know we're in the middle of a war, but that still seems a little hasty to me."

"I guess it never really occurred to me," I lied. I figured it was best not to let him know that the fate of his whole homeland kind of depended on me.

Instead, I just tried to play the whole thing off, saying "I'm sure it's happened before."

"Yeah right," my purple haired friend said before smacking me in the face with a pillow. "Just make sure you don't forget about us when you become the youngest captain in Hyrule's history, OK?"

"Are you kidding me? I'm going to erase you from my memory the second I leave this goddess damned dungeon," I said, throwing a grin Kafei's way. I hadn't been in "Old Hyrule" for very long, but Kafei had grown on me pretty quickly. He was basically my only friend out of our whole squad, and had helped me a lot throughout basic training. He was yet another reason why I couldn't afford to fail as a hero.

I awoke early the next morning and had everything ready to go when some guards showed up to take me to my new quarters. I was staying in a nicer wing of the castle that was usually reserved for high ranking members of the military, and I even had a room all to myself. The rules were still fairly strict about where I could and couldn't go in the castle, but I had earned at least a little bit of freedom. Most importantly, I was allowed to go to the library.

As soon as I was settled, Captain Jeero showed up to give me a tour of the newly accessible areas that I had yet to visit. He explained how my training would be changing along the way.

"From now on you'll have two, high intensity one-on-one lessons each day. One in the morning and one right after lunch," Captain Jeero explained. "The morning will be advanced foot soldier training while you'll practice advanced mounted combat training in the afternoon. Don't expect to do mounted training once a day for too long, though. We'll be moving you on to two daily sessions of swordplay as soon as we can."

I nodded as we went, simultaneously taking in all the new surroundings and making note of important areas.

"We'll expect you to be proficient with a multitude of weapons, but you'll primarily focus on sword and shield combat. Also, your instructors will be prone to change so don't be surprised when it happens," he said. "When you're not eating or training you'll be attending classes about military tactics. It's not as exciting but it's just as important as anything else, if not more so."

Captain Jeero paused in the middle of his monologue and look me so hard in the eyes that I almost instinctively backed up.

"You've done an excellent job thus far, but things are about to get much more difficult. You've got to keep up. We want you ready for the field in one month," he said, all business. His eyes challenged me, demanded me to rise to the challenge.

"Hyrule hasn't got much time left, Link. Ganondorf's forces advance further each day. The soldiers are beginning to spread rumors of the Demon King being in two places at once, and the other Link can only devote his efforts to one front at a time. They _need_ someone else to rally behind."

I could feel fear welling up within me, but I remembered Zelda's words and pushed it back down. I had a duty to fulfill. Something greater to achieve. I met Jeero's gaze and tried to match his intensity.

"I'm being sent back to the frontline tomorrow, but I've already been away for far too long. The men need me," Captain Jeero said, and I could sense his desperation. "One month Link. I'm going to buy you one month. I need you to be ready by then. Can I count on you?"

"One month?" I said, trying my best to bestow some confidence into the Captain. "I'll see you in the three weeks."

Captain Jeero smiled at me before leading me to my first advanced training session of many to come.

* * *

Before I knew it, roughly two and a half weeks had passed since my new training regimen had begun. The food was mercifully a little bit better, and the bed was much more comfortable than the old cot that I had been stuck in beforehand. Things were a bit lonelier since I didn't really have anyone to hang out with or eat with anymore, but I was so busy that I hardly even noticed.

I was constantly training and learning, sometimes even through meals. The first week had been the worst as I tried to get used to having even less rest and less time to eat. Having to switch which weapon I was training with roughly every other day certainly didn't make things much easier. I had to be an above average soldier with every weapon in the arsenal so that I could be ready for anything.

Thankfully, I was allowed to train in chainmail and my blue tunic instead of all that heavy training armor. I was much faster and fighting felt more natural without as much dead weight. Instructors came and went faster than I could learn their names. Some were better than others at actually teaching me how to use each weapon, but their skill was always topnotch.

I got the hang of mounted combat after just a week so I could practice normal fighting twice as much. It was rough, but thanks to eight hours of focused training a day I was pretty good with just about every weapon by the end of two weeks. There were certainly areas where I was a little rough around the edges due to the accelerated nature of my training, but I could at least get the job done. I was finally back to training almost exclusively with a sword and shield, which felt like a blessing after weeks of awkwardly flailing around clunkier weapons.

The classes were relatively easy and I found them to usually be a nice break from the extreme physical labor I was being put through. I'm not sure why, but there just didn't seem to be anything exceptionally complicated about military tactics when you had teachers and books breaking them down step by step.

One night in the middle of my third week of new training, I had finished class early and decided to go to the library. I didn't get much free time, but whenever I did I usually went to the library. It was a nice distraction whenever my training became a little too taxing, and if I'm being totally honest I was usually hoping to run into Zelda. I hadn't seen her since my advanced training had started, but I figured it was my best shot of finding her without roaming into the restricted areas of the castle.

I usually read the history books about the heroes of legend whenever I went to the library. They had been my favorite stories growing up, and the books from the past had way more detail. Despite everything that had transpired, it was still impossible to picture myself as one of their equals.

I was deeply invested in the story of the Hero of the Skies, when a voice yelled "boo!" roughly two inches away from my ear. I hadn't even heard anyone walk into the library, so I may have let out a less than manly noise when I was caught off guard.

I whirled around feeling both irritated and embarrassed, but both of those feelings melted away when I heard the telltale giggle of the Princess of Hyrule.

"You should have seen the look on your face!" Zelda said smiling ear to ear. "I suppose that makes us even now doesn't it." I tried to look annoyed, but I couldn't keep a smile from creeping onto my face.

"Actually Princess, when I scared you it was on accident," I said. "That was on purpose, which means that we're far from even."

"Oh is that so?" Zelda said, and her eyes were challenging me. "Well you can frighten me all you like, but I doubt you'll be able to make me shriek in as feminine a manner as you just did."

"You'd better be careful Your Highness, I just might surprise you," I said with a smirk. We were staring at each other, both of us trying our best to seem intimidating, neither one of us wanting to be the first to break eye contact. I could tell that there was a laugh trying to escape Zelda's lips, and I was having trouble holding back the laughter myself. I'm not sure who broke first, but it wasn't long until we were both laughing at our own stupid jokes.

"So, to what do I owe this pleasure, Princess?" I asked as soon as we had stopped laughing.

"Well, I came looking for you in your quarters but you were nowhere to be found, so I asked around and was told that you frequently visit the library in your time off," she said. "There are few people who would very much like to meet you. They're waiting for us in the throne room as we speak."

"Oh, really? Who wants to meet me?" I asked. "Also, no offense but why didn't you just send a servant to come get me? Is it normal for the princess to go around summoning people herself?"

"No, I suppose it isn't exactly common, but then neither is our current situation. We have to make sure as few people as possible know of your true origins," Zelda said. "It's not normal for recruits to be summoned to the throne room at all really, and many of the servants have already met the Link from our time. We have to avoid arousing suspicion, so here I am."

"I suppose that makes sense," I said. I didn't usually go around saying things like "I suppose", but I was trying to get with the times and I think Zelda's elegant way of speaking was starting to rub off on me. "I have no complaints though. It's nice to have some company that isn't swinging a weapon at my head or making me a read a textbook."

Zelda smiled as she rolled her eyes at my comment and went on speaking like I hadn't said a word.

"As for who you shall be meeting tonight, most importantly will be my father so be sure to use your manners," she said. I liked the way she could say something mature and motherly like "use your manners" without making it sound like she was nagging.

"So, I'll be meeting the King of Hyrule?" I said.

"That is correct. You aren't nervous, are you?" she asked with genuine concern.

I thought about it for a moment, and I was glad that I could confidently reply "No, not really."

"Excellent!" Zelda said excitedly. "There a few other guests but I think I'll leave their identities as a surprise. We wouldn't want to spoil the fun would we?"

Zelda definitely seemed like she knew something I didn't, which was nothing new but slightly intimidating none the less. Whoever I was meeting, I could tell she was excited about it.

As we made our way to the throne room, Zelda asked me how my training was going. I was thankful that I actually had some good news to report, and I could tell that Zelda felt the same way. I was content as we walked through the halls, not even the slightest bit afraid to meet the King. I had gotten used to the uncommon recently, and I doubted there was much that could happen to really throw me off now.

When we reached the throne room I noticed that there were two sheikah guarding the door as opposed to the common soldiers that guarded most rooms. I figured it was all a part of keeping the number of people who knew anything about me to a minimum.

There were maybe ten people waiting in the throne room when I walked in. Every head turned my way and watched me approach with intrigue. It was odd to be getting so much attention.

I spotted the King almost immediately, standing directly ahead of me with everyone else positioned around him in a venerating kind of way. It was clear just how much stock people placed in the royalty.

I approached him swiftly but calmly, stopping maybe ten feet short and kneeling.

"It is an honor, my king," I said in my most chivalrous voice.

"Please my boy, stand. This is no formal occasion," he said, and I was pleasantly surprised by how gentle his voice was. "Neither myself nor anyone here is a stranger to your origins. Truthfully, you have no obligations of knightly propriety in this world in the first place."

I quickly stood and nodded my thanks. I looked the king in the eyes, finally getting a good look at him. He cut an imposing figure, standing quite tall and sporting a massive frame. He had short gray hair that poked out from beneath his crown and a well kept gray beard. His eyes were soft though and his face showed wrinkles from smiling too much.

"I am King Cepheus Harkinian III. It is a pleasure to meet you, Link," he said before continuing with a loud clap. "Well then, let us not waste time. We've many introductions to get through."

A portly old man in a orange robe stepped forward to begin speaking, but was cut off by the sound of pounding footsteps coming from the doorway. We all turned just as a figure in green rounded the corner into the room and slowed to a jog.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Zelda's eyes light up as she failed to reign in a smile.

"Sorry I'm late everyone," the figure called out. "I was exhausted from the journey back and I fell asleep as soon as I reached my bed."

As the newcomer got closer I could see him more and more clearly. He was almost my exact height and build. His messy, brownish blonde hair was just a shade lighter than mine and poked out from underneath his floppy green hat, falling into his eyes. It wasn't long before I started to notice just how similar we both looked, and it became obvious who this guy was.

"You weren't kidding in your letter Princess, it's like looking into a mirror," he said as he walked right up to me and stuck out his hand for me to shake. "My name's Link. It's a pleasure to meet you Link."

 **Author's note: Din does it feel good to be done with that chapter! The setup is basically done, so now is where the story really begins. No more week long training skips, just lots of action and drama. Let me know what you guys thought of this chapter if you want. What you liked, what you didn't like, the works! I'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, or reviewed this story thus far. Every single time I see something like that it seriously makes my day. I'll try to update as frequently as I can, and I promise that the next chapter won't take too long. Until then, stay safe kids. Peace.**

 **P.S. I am totally aware that I used LOZ terminology in an author's note**


	7. Chapter 7

I was stunned at first by this newcomer. For starters, he looked almost exactly like me which was jarring in its own right, but this Link had a certain aura about him. When he was speaking he drew everyone's eyes towards himself, and he exuded an easygoing kind of confidence. The only people who could compete with him in terms of presence were the royal family.

Technically speaking, as far as I knew, Link was as commoner. For people in this time period who held their royal families in such high regard, it spoke volumes to see them treat Link almost as if he was on equal footing with them. I figured he must've already accomplished a lot throughout the war.

After what was probably too long of a pause, I finally came to my senses and shook Link's hand.

"It's nice to finally meet you," I said trying to sound sincere, but it felt forced. "I've heard so much about you."

At that, the hero shot a look at Zelda and said with a smirk "I don't suppose that was your doing, Princess?" Zelda turned away with mock indignation, but there was clearly a smile working its way across her face.

"Anything he has heard has come straight from the people," she said. "Don't assume I think so highly of you."

Link had just assumed a fake expression of hurt when the king interjected.

"Ahem," the king said, causing Link and Zelda to look away from one another bashfully. "I'm sure there will be plenty of time for catching up and lighthearted banter later, but for now we should continue with introductions.

"Of course, your highness," Link said, bowing his head in an apologetic manner. I was surprised by his total shift in demeanor when he was addressing the king, although I probably shouldn't have been. I guess seeing him interact so easily with Zelda had made me think that maybe status wasn't the kind of thing that affected this Link, but that clearly wasn't the case.

King Cepheus then turned his attention to me, saying "You've just met our young champion, Link. He will serve as your personal instructor for the next few weeks as he is unparalleled in swordplay. I'm sure it goes without saying that the cooperation between you two will be extremely vital to the survival of our kingdom."

I couldn't tell if I was excited or terrified at the thought of being personally trained by the single greatest soldier in Hyrule. I didn't really have time to form my opinion about it before the king went on with introductions.

Most of the rest of the people present were nobles or military generals whose names I forgot the minute I took my eyes off of them. The man who was dressed in orange robes was a Sage named Rauru who was in charge of watching over the Temple of Time. He had been recovering from injury when I had first come through the Temple of Time which was why I hadn't met him already. I wanted to ask about the nature of his injuries, wondering if they had anything to do with how Ganondorf had managed to use the Temple before, but King Cepheus moved along before I had a chance.

"Don't worry if you haven't memorized all of these names just yet," the king said. "You'll be regularly participating in real war meetings to discuss military strategies with all of the men here, so I'm sure you'll get to know them over time."

I looked over the room and marveled at the fact that all of these important people had come together to help turn me into the hero they needed. Everyone was looking at me expectantly so I figured I had to say _something._ I really didn't want to get into the habit of letting them down.

"Thank you all for helping me," I said awkwardly. "I, uh, I won't let you down." I glanced over at Zelda who smiled and nodded at me. I took that as an indication that I'd managed to do something right.

"Alright, we should adjourn for the night. There's much work to be done in the morning," King Cepheus said.

At that I started to walk back to my room, but before I left I noticed Zelda and Link talking and smiling again. For a moment, I thought about walking over to them and joining in on the conversation. I was going to need to get to know the other Link anyways, and it wasn't like I ever needed an excuse to talk to Zelda. I took one step towards them, but then I saw something that stopped me dead in my tracks.

Zelda was blushing as she talked to Link. She was wearing her brightest smile, and she had a look in her eyes that I hadn't seen since the moment our eyes first met. Suddenly, I understood what must have been running running through Zelda's mind the first time she looked at me. I looked just like the man that she was in love with, but I wasn't the man that she loved.

Before either of them noticed me, I turned and made my way out of the room and back towards my bedroom. I tried to go to bed immediately so that I could get ready for my training with Hyrule's greatest swordsman, but I couldn't sleep a wink. I had probably only gotten two hours of sleep by the time morning rolled around.

* * *

"You've got to move your feet more," the other Link told me after knocking me on my ass for roughly the fiftieth time in an hour. We had been sparring with wooden swords and shields so that we could wear minimal protection. It was better for movement, but it meant that getting hit in any way hurt like a bitch.

"Last time you said I needed a firmer stance and to plant my feet more," I said as I slowly picked myself up off the ground and tried to ignore the intense throbbing in my side. "Which is it: plant my feet or move them?"

Link shrugged with a sheepish expression as he said "Well, it's a little of both." When I replied by looking even more pissed off than I had previously been, he hastily tried to explain.

"You have to stay light on your feet so that you can always jump into the optimal position to defend or attack, but once you get there you have to plant your feet immediately," he said. "Listen, why don't we take a break? We could both use some water, and I can explain things a little more in depth."

"Fine," I huffed. I knew It would feel good to take a break and rest my legs, but I wasn't particularly happy about stopping training just because I sucked so much.

Waking up that morning had been particularly rough. I was already exhausted from hardly sleeping the night before, and when I remembered exactly what had kept me up I was hit with a fresh wave of jumbled emotions, none of which were good. I knew I was being childish, getting upset by seeing Zelda and Link together, so I tried to shove those emotions aside and dragged myself out of bed. It was easier said than done.

It hadn't taken long to figure out why people considered Link to be the best warrior in all of Hyrule. He moved and fought like a force of nature. He was lightning fast, and all of his strikes really packed a punch. It was as if swordplay was second nature to him. And as if Link wasn't impressive enough, I could tell that he was holding back whenever we were sparring. It was both frustrating and awe inspiring.

We sat down on a bench underneath the shade of a tree and drank water out of glasses that had been set out. We had an entire courtyard all to ourselves for training, equipped with plenty of weapons, practice dummies, and archery targets.

"I think the main problem right now is your reaction time," Link explained. "You've got a good handle on how to move and counter, but it takes years to build up your reaction time. I've got a lifetime of swordsmanship under my belt, but you've only just gotten started so of course it's going to be harder for you."

"So, not to be negative or anything, but we don't exactly _have_ a lifetime to build up my reaction speed," I said. "Captain Jeero told me that he could buy us a month before we _both_ need to be back on the frontline. That was two and a half weeks ago. How am I going to become as good a fighter as you in just a week and a half?"

"Oh that's simple, you won't," Link said and I practically spat out my water. I guess the fear I was feeling showed on my face because Link slung a comforting arm around my shoulder and grinned. "The good news is, we don't _need_ you to be as good as me."

"We don't?" I said, and Link nodded. "Are you sure, because that kind of sounds different from what everyone else has been saying."

"There's only so much you can do in the short amount of time we've been given to make up for a lifetime of inexperience," Link said. It was the kind of sentence that should have felt condescending, but somehow coming from Link, it didn't. "All we really need is your courage. Well, yours and mine."

It made me smile, knowing that somehow this other Link and I were in the same boat. It had been a frustrating morning, getting the shit kicked out of me for an hour straight, but I still had two hours of sparring left before lunch. I felt reinvigorated and motivated to do everything in the short time that we had.

"Alright," I said as I rose from the bench and sat down my water, "we better get back to it."

Just as I expected, I got the shit kicked out of me for another two hours that morning. I continued getting beaten to a pulp everyday for the next three days as well. Despite how grueling it was, I found that Link and I were actually getting along pretty well. He wasn't a spectacular teacher, but he was patient and obviously incredibly skilled. I learned a lot each day just from watching him.

Still, the work was utterly exhausting. I had never been so sore in all of my life. My only respite from the difficult sparring matches were meals, light fitness workouts, and war meetings.

It was interesting, to see great military minds strategizing and thinking about real battles. It was a completely different experience than my classes where I learned about military tactics, but I was glad that I could still find ways to apply what I had learned to real life scenarios. Zelda and King Cepheus were always at the meetings, which was a bonus, but of course I wasn't permitted to sit next to Zelda or discuss anything that wasn't strictly business.

I got to know the names of all the generals pretty quickly. I didn't talk much during the meetings, but they called on me every now and then to see what I thought about a certain situation. I guess they wanted to know how well I understood war tactics, and my suggestions usually weren't too far off from the solutions that they came up with themselves. Of course, I was still messing things up here and there, but it was going better than I had expected.

The meetings weren't too bad, but the best part about them was getting to see Zelda in action. I could understand why she was considered the wielder of the Triforce of Wisdom. When she spoke in the meetings, her entire demeanor changed. She was strong, self assured, and calculating. Everyone in the room, her father included, hung on her every word, and people rarely disagreed with her. Just knowing she was on our side was reassuring.

I never got a chance to talk to her after the meetings, so I usually tried to catch her eye during the meetings. All I wanted was to share some kind of meaningful look or expression, something to tell her that I was still working hard, but she always seemed to be determined to look at anything but me. I tried not to get discouraged, and told myself it was just for the sake of professionalism, but something told me there was something else going on. I couldn't help but wonder if it had anything to do with the other Link being back in the castle.

I tried not to think about Zelda too much while I was training. We both had enough to worry about without me distracting her for reasons that I couldn't even wrap my head around. I needed to focus if I was going to even get close to Link's combat skills. It was on the first day of my last week of training that I finally came close to landing a clean hit on him.

We were a little over two hours into our second session of the day, and our current match had already been going on for twenty straight minutes. It was our longest bout yet, although they seemed to be taking longer and longer with each time our swords met.

I was keeping pace with Link although I was on the defensive most of the time. Finally after bashing his shield aside, I saw a good chance to throw an attack and swung my sword downward towards Link's head. He blocked with his wooden sword, but I guess I had put more weight into the attack than he anticipated because it caught him by surprise and knocked him off balance. I saw the opening that I had created by causing him to stumble and stabbed straight ahead towards his exposed midsection.

For a second, I thought I was actually going to win the match. I must have been mere inches away from landing a blow before Link recovered and knocked my sword away with the side of his shield. By this point, I had overextended myself too much trying to land this one attack and was completely defenseless. Before I had time to recover, I felt the wooden sword crash down on my back and send me face first into the ground. Aside from hurting like a bitch (which I was used to) it was a major blow to my pride.

"Damn it all," I groaned with my face still pressed to the grass. "I was so close that time!"

"I know, you actually had me worried there for a minute," Link said with a laugh before giving me a comforting pat on the back. "Don't be frustrated. That really was a good move. You're improving much more quickly than I expected."

"Yeah yeah, don't go patronizing me," I said and then rolled over onto my back. I took Link's outstretched hand and let him pull me to my feet.

"No really, I mean it. There aren't a lot of soldiers on either side of this war who could go toe to toe with you," he said. I tried not to let show just how great it felt to get praised for my swordsmanship. "Come on, let's stop for the day. We've got to get ready for the meeting tonight and we can't go like this."

"Wait, did you say _we've_ got to get ready," I asked, feeling confused. "I didn't know you went to those war councils."

"That's because I usually don't go, but Zelda thinks that my input on a certain matter could make a difference tonight" Link said, and the smile that usually never left his face faltered. "I'm not too crazy about some of the generals and their tactics, but the princess called in a favor so I don't really have a choice."

At the mention of Zelda's name, my ears immediately perked up. I couldn't help but wonder just how he'd found the time to have a conversation with Zelda. We were training for at least half the day, and she was always rushing in and out of meetings so I figured she had somewhere important to be. It occurred to me that Link might be that 'important somewhere' she was always rushing off to.

"Oh yeah, I've been meaning to ask, what's the deal with you two anyways?" I said and immediately winced at how poorly worded my question had been.

Link turned his head so that I couldn't read his expression before replying "What do you mean?" I couldn't quite tell, but he sounded like he might be a little offended.

"Sorry, I probably didn't phrase that right," I said sheepishly. "All I mean is, you guys seem really close, but you didn't grow up in the castle or anything right? How did you guys know each other before?"

"Oh, well I'm not sure I'd consider us _that_ close, but I suppose we get along," Link said, and seemed to relax at least a little. "To tell the truth, we really don't know each other very well. When the war first started and Hyrule's military got things a little bit more under control, the King wanted to meet me so I was pulled off of the front lines and brought to the castle."

"I only stayed in the castle for a week, but it just seemed like I couldn't go anywhere without running into her," he said with a laugh. "It got to be a bit of running joke for us, and we talked a fair amount while I was here. Aside from that and the few letters we sent back and forth while I was away, we really haven't seen much of one another."

"Oh, well I guess it's good that you get along," I said, feeling awkward. "She really is something, isn't she?"

I expected a smile or some kind of jovial response from Link, but instead only received silence. After a few moments, he rose from the bench and started towards the exit.

"We'd, better get ready for the meeting," Link said and disappeared through a doorway. I sat there and tried to think of what I could've said to upset him, but was only left feeling more confused. Eventually I followed Link's example and left to get ready for the war council.

* * *

 **Author's note: Holy heck, I am so sorry that this update is coming so late! I tried to write it so many times but I just didn't like it no matter how I went about it. Then things started getting crazy before finals, and then actual finals came, and oh where did the time go? I'm still not crazy about this chapter but I guess it's presentable. Either way, the update had to come soon. I really am sorry about how long it took. I've finally got some free time so I'll try to get another chapter out before Christmas break ends. Anyways, drop a review and let me know what you thought of the chapter if you want. Or don't, it's a free country. Happy holidays!**


	8. Chapter 8

If there was one word I would use to describe the atmosphere of the war council that night, it would be _tense._ You could practically cut it with a knife it was so palpable. I mean, the councils were always very serious (they were _war_ meetings after all), but that night things felt a little more intense than usual. It didn't help that the news we received was progressively worse and worse. Resources and morale were wearing thin on the front lines. It seemed like we were losing ground along with the lives of Hylians everyday. The war was not going well. I suppose the additional tension also had something to do with the green clad hero who was sitting next to the princess.

I tried not to let it bother me that Link had walked into the council with Zelda and King Cepheus and sat down next to them as if it was the most natural thing in the world, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel even a slight pang of jealousy. I always walked into the meetings alone and feeling out of place and got stuck stuck in between one of the King's advisors and General Linebeck. Not to mention, I couldn't even get Zelda to look at me, let alone smile and talk to me the way she was talking to Link when she first walked in the door.

I had to remind myself that none of that was important and that I didn't belong in this timeline anyways. I was here to do a job and then leave. By the time I got done calming my childish anger, Zelda had sat down and assumed her regal demeanor.

"Alright," King Cepheus said, officially bringing the council to order. "As I'm sure you're all aware by now, just yesterday we received a report of more of Ganondorf's forces moving east along our southern border."

My ears perked up at the mention of Ganondorf having soldiers along the south. Of course, I hadn't heard any of this before. Since I was just meant to observe, I never received any of the intel reports before meetings. I guess they thought it was better training if I had to make judgements on the fly.

Most of the attacks from the Gerudo had been coming from the west, so the fact that Ganondorf was trying to move to attack Hyrule on two fronts was pretty intimidating. There had been small skirmishes from time to time on the south, but we still had next to no resources there.

"According to our reports, Ganondorf's soldiers should reach the town of Rivenport by mid morning tomorrow," King Cepheus said. "It is a relatively small, fast moving group of Gerudo warriors, but if we mobilize our soldiers by dusk we should be able to intercept them."

"That would only be possible if we also sent a small group of soldiers to Rivenport," the King's advisor said in a nasally voice. "Moving any significant number of soldiers to the southern border would take several days, if not a week."

"We should still consider our options for sending a small squadron tonight," Zelda said. "We cannot simply leave the people of Rivenport to die by the hands of the Gerudo."

"Let us not forget that this Gerudo troop is part of Ganondorf's elite guard," General Linebeck said. "It will take more than a small squadron of Hylian soldiers to stop them."

"Perhaps we can send a messenger, telling the people to gather only the essentials and flee as quickly as possible," King Cepheus said.

"Rivenport is a relatively large settlement," another general said. "Too large to mobilize quickly."  
"Well then what do _you_ suggest we do?" Zelda asked, the challenge in her words apparent. Tensions were clearly high, and I felt like I was watching a fiery exchange in a tennis match.

"The only logical course of action is to send a full squadron to the south," the general said. "We can stop Ganondorf's forces and then begin moving along the southern border to attack him from two fronts."

"By the time our soldiers arrive, every citizen in Rivenport will be dead!" Zelda nearly shouted. Her outburst was so sudden that it surprised everyone in the room. Even receiving difficult news about the war, I had never seen Zelda lose her composure so quickly. She was clearly on edge.

"Princess, this is no way to conduct yourself during an official council," King Cepheus said in a kind yet stern tone. Zelda seemed to check herself, adjusting her posture and taking a deep breath. "In the long run, I believe we can all agree that we will need to move a good deal of troops to the southern border. We can begin preparations for this immediately. In the meantime, we must do anything we can to protect our citizens."

"Will all due respect, sire," the King's advisor said. "Rivenport is likely already a lost cause. Even if we send a small group to intercept Ganondorf's forces, we don't have enough skilled soldiers currently at our disposal."

"With all due respect," Zelda began well contained but apparent fury. "We have the most skilled warrior in all of Hyrule right here." Immediately, all eyes in the room shifted towards Link who was situated at Zelda's side. He had remained silent throughout the meeting up to this point, so I was interested to see what he thought about the situation. No one really wanted to say it, but most of the military experts thought it best to let everyone in Rivenport die. I was definitely on Zelda's side for this one, but I could at least see where the generals were coming from. I couldn't imagine Link ever agreeing with the decision to let innocent people die though.

"Yes, let us hear from Hyrule's greatest warrior," Linebeck said sarcastically. Linebeck was a pretty cocky general from what I could tell from past meetings. He was always the most critical of anything that I said during meetings. I guess he didn't think much of non-military personnel sitting in on war councils.

"Link," King Cepheus began. "You know the most about Ganondorf's elite guard. What do you make of all this?"

Link's eyes scanned the entire room in a calculating manner. His jaw was clenched tightly, and I could tell he was having a difficult time keeping his composure. Finally, after several moments of silence, Link began to speak.

"There is no doubt that Ganondorf's elite troops are a force to be reckoned with," he said. "No small squadron that we could send in time would stand a chance…" The generals seemed pleased at this information and began to nod in agreement before Link went on.

"However, if I were to lead a group of the finest twenty or so soldiers that we could muster, I believe we could halt the Gerudo forces long enough for reinforcements to arrive."

Zelda's eyes shone with pride as everyone around the table was left speechless. Suddenly I understood what Link had meant when he said that Zelda had called in a favor. Despite knowing that it was at the request of the Princess, I couldn't help but be impressed. Link was offering to singlehandedly do the impossible, and by the way he spoke I was inclined to believe that he could pull it off. I was beginning to understand that Link's title of "Hero" went far beyond his ability to swing a sword.

"I'm sorry Link, but that's out of the question," King Cepheus said, causing the look of pride on Zelda's face to change to one of pure shock. "If we're to have any hope of winning this war, we need you to make sure that you and our new arrival are ready to face the King of Thieves when the time arrives. We can't risk the fate of Hyrule on one town."

"But father—"

"I've heard enough, and I will not be swayed on this matter Zelda," the King said, effectively silencing his daughter along with everyone else in the room. The expression on his face was unmistakably pained. "I truly am sorry, but it appears all we can do is pray to the Goddesses for the people of Rivenport."

At that, I felt rage beginning to bubble up from deep inside me. I had been uprooted from my life to save Hyrule and become a hero, and yet all I was doing was getting an entire village of innocent people killed. If I wasn't in the picture, Link would ride off into the night and defeat those Gerudo without a moment's notice. But instead people had to die while he stayed behind because everyone thought I needed a goddess damned babysitter. I was so angry and frustrated that I could hardly see straight, and before I knew it words had begun to escape my mouth before I could stop them.

"I'll go with him," I said and I felt every gaze in the room focus on me. "You say Link can't go because he has to train me? What better training is there than a real battle? If we both go, I'm sure we can stop them."

King Cepheus looked at me, an expression of understanding on his face. In that moment we fully understood each other. He admired what I was offering, wanted to agree with me, but deep down he felt I was wrong.

"Link, your determination is admirable, but I cannot allow this," he said, confirming what I already knew. "There is no doubt that you have skill. You are likely on your way to becoming one of the greatest soldiers in all of Hyrule, but you are inexperienced. I cannot risk your life on such a mission."

For a moment, I considered conceding defeat and allowing this to happen, but then I caught sight of a familiar pair of blue eyes that I hadn't truly seen in a while. For the first time in roughly a week, Zelda met my gaze. I remembered the first moment she appeared on my doorstep, and the way I felt inside when she had called on me to become something more than just a boring high schooler. I remembered all the words of encouragement, and the desperate pleading moments when she had begged me to help her save her country. Zelda was kindhearted and loved the people of Hyrule with all her heart. It pained her to know that so many innocent Hylians would die. There was a sparkle in her eyes when I looked at her in that war room that I recognized. She was asking me to step forward again and answer her call. When I looked into her eyes, there was only ever one answer.

"Your highness, I was brought here to save the people of Hyrule," I said, meeting the King's gaze with as much strength as I could muster. "I didn't come all this way to let them die."

The King's advisor shot me a look that could only be described as purely venomous. He rose from his chair, directing all of his anger straight at me.

"Are you suggesting that King Cepheus is _willingly_ letting his citizens die?" he asked, clearly outraged. "You clearly have much to learn about war you insolent little—"

"That's quite enough," the King said sounding tired. Cepheus looked at me and I could see the pain behind his eyes. "Link, I know this is difficult for you to accept. It is difficult for all of us to accept, but sometimes in war sacrifices must be made."

I looked around at the room, shocked by the way that everyone seemed to just accept defeat. Link was facing forward, his jaw set in barely contained anger. I looked to Zelda but her eyes were cast downward, her face the very picture of anguish. I decided right then that I wasn't going to put up with this council, and I was definitely not about to let the people of Rivenport die.

"I won't be a part of this decision," I said, rising from my seat. There was a chorus of disapproval from the generals and advisors in the room, each of them shouting about my "lack of respect" and my "disdain for tradition," but all of their words fell on deaf ears. I was sick and tired of nothing but training day after day. I was sick of feelings like a dog being pampered for a show. I was sick of the inside of castle walls, and of hearing about countless lives being lost with each day that passed. I wanted to feel like a soldier, to get out and do some good, and I was going to do it with or without the King's approval.

As I made my way across the room and through the door, Zelda remained silent in her seat. She had already said everything that needed to be said with that one look. At least, that's what I thought to be the case, so it came as a bit of a surprise when I heard the door to the War Room open up again.

"Link, wait," Zelda called out as she made her way down the hall to me, walking briskly but maintaining that regal poise that she always did.

I turned quickly to see her but didn't stop walking. I felt like if I stopped moving for even a second, I was going to lose all of the momentum that I had. I was going to need all of the momentum I could get if I was going to pull off the plan I had worked out in my head.

"Link, please stop for just a moment," Zelda said, catching up to me and matching me stride for stride.

"I'm sorry Princess, but its a bit late for stopping now," I said, keeping my gaze forward.

"Link," Zelda said with a surprising softness that nearly stopped me in my tracks. She took advantage of my surprise and grabbed me by the wrist, effectively halting my progress. Zelda kept her grip firm and moved in front of me to make sure that I wouldn't try to get away and meeting my gaze so to ensure I was paying attention. Her eyes were a mix of so many emotions that I couldn't even begin to pick them out.

"I need to apologize to you," she said, her grip on my wrist tightening even further. "I knew that I was putting you in an impossible position, and still I…"

"Don't start apologizing now, Princess," I said, feeling a sudden burst of anger spout up that I didn't know I had.

"I'm sorry, what?" Zelda said, clearly surprised by my words.

"All of this was _my_ decision and I'm finally going to start doing what I came here to do, so don't you start in now with the apologies."

"Link no, that's not at all what I meant," Zelda said. We were both caught off guard by the unexpected bite in my words. "Link… what are you planning on doing?"

"I'm going to do what you asked me to do," I said simply. "I'm going to help you save your people."

"How are you going to help them then? By getting yourself killed?" Zelda said with discernible distress.

"You wanted me to go, didn't you?" I demanded. "Thats why you looked at me with that goddess damned look, isn't it Princess? Because you wanted me to save Rivenport!"

"Not at the cost of your own life. Going alone is suicide!" She said, her voice rising as the emotion in her words began to show more and more.

"I thought maybe you could convince the council to send a squadron. That's why I wanted to apologize to you. It was unfair of me to ask you to do the impossible. I didn't want to ask, but do you think it's easy for me to accept the death of my people? Even still, that doesn't mean that I want you to go and get yourself killed!"

Zelda's words were beginning to make me unsure of my own actions, but I was still so angry at how useless I had felt over the past few weeks. I felt bad, putting Zelda in what I knew was a difficult position, but wasn't I doing the right thing? Wasn't this what I was meant to be doing the entire time? I couldn't back down now that I finally had an opportunity to be the hero that Zelda had called me to be just because she was scared that I would get hurt.

That, and there was one other thing that had been bothering me for the past few days ever since the other Link, the _real_ Link, had arrived. Something that was enough to fuel my anger and drown out any guilt I felt for making Zelda worry.

"Would you be so worried if it was the _other_ Link who was about to try and save Rivenport all on his own?" I said, trying and failing to keep my jealousy from showing. I knew I was being petulant and stupid, but after so long of feeling inadequate and ignored, I simply couldn't help myself.

With that, I jerked my wrist free of Zelda's hand and moved past her further down the hall. As soon as she recovered, she was following me down the hall once again.

"Link, that is _not_ what this is about," Zelda said, trying and failing to grab ahold of me and stop me from advancing further down the hall. "Link has years of training that you've never had! Of course you're not going to be as good of a swordsman as he is after a few sparring matches. You don't need to prove anything to anyone."

"If I don't need to be every bit the hero that he is, then why am I even here?" I asked, and for once I found that I had managed to ask a question that Zelda didn't have an answer to.

While Zelda was stunned into momentary silence, I used the opportunity to push past her and enter a stairwell that led to the ground floor of the castle. As I was descending the stairs I listened to make sure that Zelda wasn't following me.

Once I was safely on the ground floor, I began working my way towards the armory, moving quickly and silently just in case Zelda tried to send some of the guards to stop me. Knowing her, I doubted that she would take such drastic measures, but I had to play it safe. Maybe she wasn't willing to admit it, but everyone familiar with our situation including myself was aware of the elephant in the room: I wasn't as good as Link.

The gap between us was frustratingly massive, and I had to experience just how wide that gap was day after day. There were a lot of things that the other Link had that I didn't, but the most important one was experience. Well, I wasn't about to let a lack of experience hold me back anymore.

I made it to the armory with no incidents and immediately began grabbing equipment that I would need. I put on a light chainmail underneath my blue tunic and strapped a leather wrist guard to my right arm. I attached a quiver full of arrows to my belt and slipped a simple recurve bow over my shoulder. I picked out a small metal shield that looked sturdy but didn't weigh too much. It had blue paint adorning the face and a red Hylian crest at the center complete with the gold emblem of the Triforce itself.

I had to test out a few swords to make sure I found one that was properly weighted, although none of them felt exactly right for me. I settled on a simple, double-sided one that felt just a little too light. The handle and hilt were a simple dark gray, but the edge looked wickedly sharp.

Examining the sword in my hand, I felt galvanized. No more dull blades for me. I had come here to save lives, and I was about to do it—with or without the approval of the royal family.

* * *

 **Author's note: Wow, this update came so much later than I expected. Sorry about that one but I've been kind of swamped what with new classes that were way harder than I expected them to be. But hey, finals are over now so hopefully I'll be able to focus on writing a little bit more now! Maybe... Anyways, I just wanted to take a quick moment and thank everyone who has favorited, followed, or reviewed this story. It really means a lot and you guys are the only reason why I still update at all. It might take a long time, but I promise that this story will be finished one day. As usual, feel free to drop a review and let me know what you thought of this chapter or the story as a whole. Even if I don't respond, I promise I read every review. There's no such thing as bad feedback! Hopefully the next update will come a little sooner, but until then stay classy ladies and gents.**


	9. Chapter 9

The one thing that they don't tell you about horseback riding in movies and books is that it's uncomfortable as all hell. Especially when you've been riding for several consecutive hours as quickly as your horse will allow.

After gearing up in the armory, I snuck over to the stables and found the horse I'd been training with since I'd first arrived, Auburn. As far as horses go, he was a bit hyperactive (or so I was told by the stable boy), but I think that's probably why I liked him so much. I quickly got Auburn saddled up and rode out of the castle at twilight.

All I had to go on as far as directions were what I remembered of the map of Hyrule from the war room, and a few wooden road signs placed intermittently throughout the countryside. It didn't make things any easier that I was riding in the dead of night most of the time with nothing but moonlight to see by. I was so focused on navigating that I hardly had time to think about anything else, which was probably a good thing because I had way too much to think about anyways.

I only stopped once in the night to let Auburn rest and eat while I quickly did the same. Just as the sun was beginning to rise, I saw at sign that read "next village Rivenport." Feeling a renewed sense of purpose, I spurred Auburn on for the final push. By the time I could finally see Rivenport cresting over a hill my butt was pretty sore, but I was starting to get too nervous to really care. I had to focus to keep my hands from shaking out of anticipation.

My plan was to get to the city and inform the citizens that Gerudo forces were on their way. If I told them to only pack the essentials, I could have them out of the way before any of the Gerudo arrived. I knew I wouldn't be able to take out the whole squad, but if I could just reduce their numbers by a bit before making my escape I'd have considered it a successful mission. Beyond that, I didn't have much of a plan going for me.

I was maybe 100 meters from the first cluster of houses when I heard the piercing cry of a woman. In an instant, I knew that my plan wouldn't work; that I had arrived too late.

I pushed Auburn to his fastest speed and blew past the first collection of houses. I was beginning to hear sounds of the chaos that was ensuing all around. Garbled cries, the clashing of steal, shattering glass—all of them flooded my ears.

As I burst into the center of town, my eyes immediately locked onto the woman who must have been the culprit of the scream I had heard just moments before. She was lying in the dirt, an overturned bucket and pooling water a few feet away. Overtop of her stood one of the most intimidating women I had ever seen.

She stood well over six feet tall, and most of her extremely muscled body was exposed save for scattered pieces of golden armor that adorned her upper chest and left shoulder. She wielded a long spear with two golden prongs and a silver tip. Her fiery red hair hair was pulled back into a pony tail, and even from a distance while atop a horse I could see the wicked expression on her face. I had met Gerudo women before in my own time, but they were nothing like this.

She stood with her spear at the ready, and I knew I only had moments to act. Without thinking, I drew my bow and knocked an arrow. I knew I was a decent shot, but hitting her given the circumstances didn't seem likely. My biggest hope was merely to get her attention off of the cowering woman and onto me. Taking just a moment to aim as the gerudo retracted her spear and readied to stab, I sent up a silent prayer to the Goddesses and let my arrow fly.

Impossibly, the arrow caught the Gerudo warrior in her upper left arm just below her armored shoulder. She immediately cried out in pain and her would-be victim took her opportunity and ran a safe distance away. The gerudo began to cast her eyes about for the culprit. When her eyes finally met mine, it took every ounce of courage I had not to look away. She looked positively murderous. I stopped Auburn a good ten feet away from her and leapt off of the saddle onto the ground. I gave Auburn a firm slap on his hindquarters so that he would know to keep his distance before I turned to face my opponent.

"You bastard," the gerudo hissed as she snapped the exposed shaft of the arrow. "Attacking an opponent while her back is turned. You fight with the dishonor I would expect of a Hylian."

"Says the lady attacking a defenseless village full of civilians," I said as I drew my sword and shield. I was attempting to sound confident, but on the inside I was utterly terrified of the injured woman standing before me.

"You speak like a boy who knows nothing of war," she spat and leveled her spear at me.

"It doesn't take an experienced warrior to recognize cruelty," I said, my blue irises meeting her amber ones. She was fierce; experienced. I had been training for months with the best warriors and teachers that Hyrule had to offer, but none of that could prepare me for that look. She wanted to kill me, and wouldn't hesitate to do it if given the chance. My knees began to shake ever so slightly

"You may call it cruelty, but the Gerudo call it strength," she said.

"You were going to kill a completely innocent and defenseless woman. I call that cruelty." I said. I didn't know where the words were coming from, but they felt right.

"Well, I certainly hope that foolish Hylian king sent more than just a little welp like you," the Gerudo warrior said, slowly inching forward. I could feel her eyeing my stance.

"I'm afraid you'll just have to settle for me at the moment," I said. "But don't worry, after I take care of you there will be plenty more on the way." Of course I was lying through my teeth, but I needed to make the Gerudo feel like they had a much shorter timetable than they actually did.

"Enough talk," she seethed. "I recognize a stalling child when I see one. Let's settle this with our blades."

And just like that, our conversation was over. The Gerudo rushed in quickly, spear held low and centered. I sprinted forward to meet her, hoping to catch her off guard just like I had with Groose. Unfortunately it turns out that elite Gerudo warriors are a bit more skilled than the average Hylian recruit.

With timing that could only be achieved through years of combat, she planted her feet at a distance just far enough away that my sword couldn't reach her, accentuating the advantage of a longer weapon. She swung her spear at my right side with tremendous speed and placement. I tried to parry with my sword, but the attack had a great deal of power behind it and caused me to lose my balance. In the end all I could really do was deflect the blow. She took immediate advantage of the situation and side-stepped to my right, giving me even worse position than I had before. She darted in quickly and thrusted her spear straight at my midsection. I knew I didn't have time to defend myself so I dove to the side, rolling and popping back up on my feet in an instant.

The Gerudo didn't give me any time to recover and came rushing in again for a vicious stab. Thankfully I had my feet set and was able to react quickly. Stepping just slightly to the side, I was able to deflect her attack with my shield and cause her spear to glance upward straight over my head. I ducked in and started to bring my sword in an upward diagonal strike, just like I had against Groose.

I guess I wound up closer to her than I thought though because she was able to bring her foot up and kick my upper arm before my sword got close enough. It hurt a little, but I saw the fact that she was only on one foot as an opportunity. I swung my left arm up at her and caught her midsection with the side of my shield. It was a crushing blow that I was sure had to hurt. I was going to press the attack, but just moments after I landed my attack she landed one of her own. The pole of her spear was brought down right on top of my head, causing my vision to blur. She had likely begun her swung before I had actually hit her with my shield. After that exchange, we both jumped back and stood at the ready again.

"You're rather quick on your feet Hylian," she said. "You might actually be more skilled than the common trash that the Royal Family sends our way."

"I appreciate the compliment, but I can't say I feel the same way about you," I said, trying to provoke her. I figured if I could make her angry, I might get her to make some sloppy moves and create an opening for myself.

I was trying to seem cool and confident, but my heart was pounding and it took all of my focus not to start shaking from fear. This woman was more than just intimidating. She wanted to kill me, and I could feel it emanating from every ounce of her being. That spear looked sickeningly sharp, I was pretty sure noting would delight her more than to skewer me. I had to be sure that I didn't hesitate if I had the opportunity to finish this fight.

"By the way, how're those ribs feeling? I'm pretty sure I felt a few crack," I said, trying to anger her further. Unfortunately, it worked.

She came rushing forward again and was on me in an instant. She was swinging her spear rapidly, one attack coming right after the other. The good news was that she seemed angry and was certainly taking more chances. The bad news was that her form and strategies didn't falter at all. It was all I could do to block or parry every attack. There were no openings for me to get close, and she had complete control over the distance of the fight.

This didn't have to carry on for very long before I started to feel winded. As it turned out, sparring with lightweight wooden weapons and shields was much less taxing than full combat with metal weapons. My arms began to burn, and my legs felt heavy as I struggled to maintain my footing against the heavy blows of the Gerudo warrior before me. It was everything I could do just to keep from being stabbed. And this was all from fighting just one soldier out of presumably at least a dozen. As time went on, I began to realize one thing just a little bit too late: I was in way over my head. My brain started shifting from fight to flight and I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I began to think of ways to escape.

I was fully prepared to take the first opportunity I got to run away until I saw a small figure rush out of one of the buildings in my peripheral vision. I was occupied with the fight going on in front of me, but even still my eyes couldn't help but be drawn to the young child running across the town square with dirt caked all over his body. I only looked at him for an instant, but I could see the terror etched across his face as tears streaked down his muddied face. He couldn't have been older than six years old, and following not far behind, cackling like an absolute madwoman, was another Gerudo soldier with her spear raised high. I felt something akin to the anger that had brought me here in the first place bubble up to the surface, but it was noticeably different from before. I didn't have time to break down exactly what I was feeling, but I knew that I couldn't run away—not from this.

I fixed my eyes back on the Gerudo I'd been engaged with for quite a while now. I still saw that absolute malice, that intent to kill that had terrified me, but now I also saw that this Gerudo was someone that was keeping me from saving everyone in this town. This person was endangering dozens, maybe even hundreds of innocent people including children. What they were doing was _unforgivable._ It was about time I started returning the anger that was being thrown my way. I noticed just how little the Gerudo armor actually protected. In an instant, I had a crazy idea.

I jumped back, creating a little more space between us allowing the Gerudo to lower her spear to a fully horizontal position ride around my midsection. I charged forward, intentionally leaving my right side wide open. I saw the Gerudo's eyes flicker to area I had left unguarded. She stabbed forward taking the opportunity I had so graciously given her just like I expected. I shifted left somewhat so that the spear glanced off of my side. I winced from the pain and could instantly feel hot blood begin to flow from the sizable gash that had been surely been made.

It was a worthy sacrifice though because just as I thought, the Gerudo had been too distracted by the obvious opening that I'd left to notice my sword arcing down towards her from overhead. I gritted my teeth, slamming my sword down into her collar bone with all of my strength. The blade sunk a good six inches into her body with a sickening thunk, sending out a spurt of blood upon entry. She looked at me with a shocked expression as blood flowed heavily from the wound. Her arms went limp and her knees buckled as she reached weakly for the hilt of my sword. Part of me recoiled at the thought of what I had just done, but I knew I couldn't afford to focus on that right now. I delivered a kick to her stomach as I yanked my sword free of the bone it had sunken into.

Wasting no time, I began rushing across the town square where the Gerudo was now standing over the boy with a sinister look on her face. They clearly hadn't noticed my scuffle on the opposite end of the square. The boy was curled up in the fetal position with his hands covering his head. The Gerudo sneered before delivering a swift kick to his head and rage surged through my body once more.

I lithely sprinted forward, moving as silently as I could. I was maybe ten feet away when the Gerudo finally heard my fast approaching footsteps. She had just enough time to raise her spear, but I was ready. I swung out my sword, batting away her spear with ease. Before she had even a moment to react, I moved in closer and slammed the end of my shield into her nose. I could hear a crunch as her head was flung back. She fell flat onto the ground, probably unconscious but maybe dead. I couldn't really tell which.

I looked down at the boy who was watching me from the ground with a guarded expression. I think he didn't know whether to be in awe of me or terrified. I probably didn't look too friendly at that exact moment. When I looked at him, my heart lurched a little bit. I sheathed my sword and knelt down beside him, extending my hand.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you," I said, and I could see his face visibly relax. He had brown, tussled hair and his eyes shone with fear. He had obviously been having a rough time.

"Are you that boy?" he said with a bit of wonder in his eyes. I had no idea what he was talking about. "The boy who everyone's been talking about? Link?"

At the mention of the other Link, I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I felt some jealousy creeping up from the back of my mind, but I managed to push it away.

"We're… distant relatives. But I'm with the Hyrule military. Everything's going to be OK," I said, doing my best to sound confident and in control.

"You should start heading north, away from town," I told him, my eyes shifting about the courtyard, looking nervously for the next Gerudo warrior. Some shouts and sounds of chaos could still be heard coming from deeper into the village. After determining that this area was probably safe for the moment, I gently pulled the boy to his feet and looked him in the eyes.

"Find some place to hide and just wait for things to calm down, OK? I've got to stay here and help everyone else," I said. He looked at me with a blank expression, but his eyes shone with understanding. I knew I didn't have time to dawdle too much so I turned and began to walk quickly deeper into the village.

I had taken maybe five steps when I heard his voice call out from behind me, saying "Wait! I can't leave the village. Not until I find my little sister."

The boy then ran up to me, tugging on my sleeve, looking at me pleadingly. I thought of my own little sister, Aryll, and I felt my heart squeeze when I put myself in this kids shoes. I understood being a protective older brother.

I also understood that this was no place for a child. I couldn't take this kid with me and constantly be forced to protect him if a fight broke out. My heart and my head were at war with one another, but I knew there was really only one solution.

"Listen," I said, kneeling down to his eye level. "I promise you that I'll find your sister and I'll keep her safe, but you can't stay here. It's too dangerous."

For his part, the kid looked torn. Part of him was obviously terrified. He didn't want to stay here, but there was another part of him that was absolutely resolute.

"I'm not leaving without my sister," he said with a determined nod. "She's got a special place where she likes to hide. I know she'll be there, and you'll never find it without me. I promise I'll stay out of your way, but you have to help me save my sister."

Part of me wanted to scream. Now was not the time for an escort mission. I wasn't skilled enough for this, but I didn't know how to tell this kid no. It felt like I would've been sentencing his sister to death. I was caught between a rock and a hard place, and I was growing more and more antsy by the minute being out in the open. A decision had to be made.

"Alright, you give me directions and move as silently as you possibly can," I said, rising back up to my feet and drawing my sword. "Stay behind me at all times, and you have to do _exactly_ as I say. If I tell you to run, you run. Capisce?"

"I don't know what that last word means, but I'll do everything you say," the boy said, looking as determined as ever.

Oh right, I'm from the future. It was becoming easier to forget that lately. With a sigh, I started heading into the belly of the beast, all of my senses on high alert.

"I knew you were a hero," the boy whispered from behind me, almost reverently.

"Goddesses, I hope so," I said under my breath.

 **Author's note: Alright, I suck, I know. It's been embarrassingly long since my last update. I wish I had a good excuse, but I don't. I'm a busy guy, but who isn't? I hope this chapter was worth the wait, but I kind of doubt it since it's not really that long. I planned on making it longer, but I decided updating as quickly as I could was a little bit more important just to prove that I'm still alive. Anyways, we finally got to see Link in action! Hopefully his first battle lived up to the hype. Let me know what you guys think! Hopefully my next update will come in a more timely fashion, but it probably won't. Until then, stay classy folks. Peace. PWC**


	10. Chapter 10

I watched with bated breath from the shadows of an alley as another Gerudo soldier rushed past. I tried not to think about the blood that I could see dripping off of her spear as she went by. I waited a few moments before finally letting out a sigh of relief. I then quickly grabbed the boy by the arm and pulled him out into the street, following the directions that he was steadily feeding me.

We had been traveling like this for a good ten minutes, darting back and forth between ransacked homes and shady alleyways in order to stay hidden. It was probably the longest ten minutes of my life. Oddly enough though, now that I had someone I was actively protecting and being brave _for_ I felt much less afraid. I had a renewed sense of purpose that nearly overshadowed the overwhelming sense of unease I felt from being tasked with protecting someone completely helpless in a battle—a task that surely exceeded my skill level.

Apparently there was a small bridge at the eastern edge of town that this kid's little sister liked to play under and go to whenever she wanted to be alone. It sounded like a decent hiding place, but I wasn't sure it'd be good enough. I was hoping that all the chaos had given her a chance to slip away. I didn't want to think about what would happen if we got there only to discover a corpse. We'd already seen more than a few lying in the streets.

We had nearly reached the edge of town and I could see the bridge from maybe a hundred yards away. There was no cover between the wall we were pressed up against and the bridge, but after a quick look around I didn't see any Gerudo in the area. I figured now was as good a time as any as I grabbed the boys arm again and moved us quickly but quietly over to the bridge. We reached it without incident, and I found myself holding my breath as we worked our way around the edge of the bridge and began to peer under.

I looked in and immediately saw a small form crawling even further back into the darkness of the bridge, pushing itself up against the wall. My heart nearly broke as I took in the sight of this girl who couldn't have been older than four. Her brown hair was tousled and she had dirt smeared all across her simple dress. She clutched a doll to her chest fervently, and her eyes were wide with a look of absolute terror. All of that terror quickly melted away, however, when the boy rushed out from behind me over to the girl.

"Maple!" the boy cried as he practically tackled his younger sister with a hug. "I was so worried about you."

The girl, who for her part had likely been silent as a mouse for quite a while now, was unable to produce any words as she suddenly bursted into tears and began to sob. I was slightly worried that the noise would attract attention, but what was I supposed to do?

"It's OK, it's OK," the boy cooed over and over again in an attempt to calm down his younger sister. "I found us a hero! Everything's going to be fine."

The girl finally managed to quell her sobbing enough to look up at me with a sniffle. Her large eyes were expectant, hopeful even. They made me uneasy. I took a few steps closer, having to stoop down a bit to get further in. I looked at the little girl, Maple, and tried to give her my most reassuring smile before nodding at her slightly. I then shifted my attention to the boy.

"You two should get out of here," I said. "Get a few miles away and find some place to hide. Soldiers will be here soon so just wait for the rest of them to arrive, alright? I'd stay with you but I've got to save as many people as I can." The boy nodded intently and I stood up to leave without a word.

"Excuse me, Mr. Hero," the boy called out just before I stepped out from under the bridge. I stopped and turned to look at him. "Thank you." At that I merely smiled and nodded before turning and heading straight back towards the center of town.

* * *

I didn't really have any idea how to save the most possible people without getting myself killed, but there were a few things I had noticed while walking throughout the town: Firstly, most of the homes and buildings were very spread out which I figured was a good thing because it would give citizens more time to react to far away danger. Second, there were a lot of corpses in the streets, but not nearly as many as I was afraid of or would have expected. Third, and most important, was that I had noticed many of the Gerudo soldiers moving towards what I assumed to be the center of town. If they were all in one place, it would be easier to make sure they weren't all killing people. At least, I hoped so. The logic made sense in my head, but all of my thoughts were scrambled and rushed.

I followed the carnage as best as I could, making my way in the same direction I had seen all the Gerudo traveling. Every now and then I could hear a scream from somewhere far away or the sound of glass breaking, but things were mostly quiet. It left me feeling more unsettled than anything else.

As I was rounding a street corner, I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw a Gerudo come barreling out of a house maybe twenty feet down the road at the exact same time. I ducked back behind the side of a house, praying to the Goddesses that she hadn't seen me. After a few moments of silence, I decided to chance a peek around the corner. When I looked, I saw the Gerudo leading a chain of Hylians all tied together at the hands and feet by rope. It was a family of five. They were all gagged and I could see tears rushing out the eyes of the two children and the mother as they produced a few muffled sobs. There was an elderly woman in the back who was practically being dragged along. Even this group seemed to be following the same pattern of movement as the rest of the Gerudo. I resolved to follow them until I could think of the least dangerous way to free the family. I couldn't go letting myself get stabbed by a spear every time I needed to land a killing blow. The blood that was still slowly flowing from the wound in my side was a reminder of that.

I made my way as quietly as possible much the way I had been doing before, watching the family as closely as I could. It wasn't long before they convened with another two groups of civilians bound together being led by a single Gerudo. I cursed under my breath for not having taken action before. Now freeing these people would be even more difficult. All I could do now was keep following and hope that I would think of some way to create a large enough diversion so that the families could escape. I didn't like my chances, but it was all I had.

I followed them quietly for a little bit longer before they finally reached the center of town. As the town square slowly came into view, I finally understood why I hadn't seen as many bodies in the streets as I expected. Kneeling in the town square, tied up in groups of five or six, were dozens of citizens, all looking various states of injured and terrified. Most of them were gagged, and all them that I could see were bound at the hands and feet. I worked my way into an ally off to the side were I could watch from a distance. The angle didn't give me a good view of the number of Gerudo, but it allowed me to watch most of the citizens. From there, I could hear Gerudo exchanging words in a language I couldn't quite understand. There was one voice in particular, louder and just a touch deeper, that I heard ring out more often than the rest. After a few tense minutes, I finally heard that voice call out in a language I understood.

"Well, this is a sight that certainly brings a great deal of joy to my soldiers and I," the voice called out. It was still definitively feminine, but I instantly hated the cold, mocking tone she spoke with.

"So many Hyilians, defeated easily by just a few Gerudo. You really are a pathetic people," she said. "Do you want to know the really funny part? The Kingdom that each of you places so much faith in is what failed you most in the end. We caught some Hylian scouts a week ago but decided to let them go. We wanted to meet the might of Hyrule in its full strength. And yet, that selfish king didn't send even a single solider."

At that, several gasps and sobs, most of them muffled, rang out from the crowd. I gritted my teeth, hating to know that she was right. But, at the very least, there was technically one soldier present. I tried desperately to think of some sort of way to create a diversion, but nothing feasible came to mind.

"However, we Gerudo are a warrior people," the voice went on. "We believe in survival of the strongest, and it appears that there is at least one skilled combatant among you. Near the edge of town, we found the bodies of two of our own." I felt my own stomach drop a bit at the mention of that. I felt stupid for not having hid the bodies, but I was in a rush. I hoped that such a simple oversight wouldn't come back to bite me, but I had a bad feeling in my gut.

"So, in true Gerudo spirit, I'm going to make an offer to all of you. One last chance to save your life," she said and I felt my heart jump. "If any of you can defeat me in one on one combat, I'll let you all go free. So then, who is going to step forward?"

My first thought was that this had to be a trap. They wanted to lure the best fighter out into the open now and kill them so that they wouldn't be surprised later, or something along those lines. It made sense to me, at least. My second thought was that, even if it wasn't a trap, if it was just something this Gerudo was doing because she was bored, they still wouldn't free the town if she lost. There was no way they would release them. Not a Goddess damned chance. And even if I _did_ step forward I had barely won my previous battles. If this woman was the leader she would probably be leagues above the rest of the fighters. I wouldn't stand a chance.

No, as hard as it would be, I needed to stay hidden. There was nothing I could do, and I wouldn't be doing anyone any good if I died here along with all of these people. "I should just slink away now and get out while I had the chance." That's exactly what I was thinking. I wasn't sure if I would be able to live with myself afterwards, but at least I would have the chance to make up for it. I had made up my mind: I was going to run.

So, with that intention in mind, I stood up slowly and walked out of the ally right into the center of town, making myself visible to everyone in sight.

"Are you sure you want it to be one on one?" I said in a voice that barely sounded my own. "It'd probably be more fair if there were five of you." I kept my eyes facing forward on the massive Gerudo woman standing at the front of the crowd of Hylians, but I could feel the eyes of every single person in the town square on me as I walked forward. There were maybe twenty to thirty Gerudo standing at the front and spaced intermittently in the crowd of at least one hundred civilians. Inwardly, I was panicking to the point that I was pretty sure I would have a heart attack before the Gerudo even got a chance to fight me. My legs had simply carried me forward before I even had a moment to think, and the words had spilled confidently out of my mouth as if someone else had taken control of my body. I expected my legs to be shaking furiously as I walked, but my body was oddly still.

"Short in stature, blonde hair, an unimpressive physique. You must be the Hylian warrior everyone's been speaking of," the Gerudo said looking me up and down. "Link, is it?"

At the mention of the other Link, the crowd gasped once again. Suddenly, I understood the point of this whole operation. The other Link had gone missing from the frontline of the war which must have unsettled Ganondorf. They were hoping to draw him out by attacking a defenseless town. Their plan had nearly worked too. Instead they just had me.

"I hate to disappoint, but the resemblance is only a coincidence," I said as I drew my sword and shield off of my back. Honestly, I doubted she believed that I wasn't the same person she thought me to be, but I didn't need her to believe me. "I guess you'll just have to make due with me."

"Well, I suppose we'll just have to see how disappointing you really are," she said with a sneer. "Although, I believe you said this fight would be more fair if you fought five of us at once. Well, my dear Hylian, ask and you shall receive." She then motioned with her hand and five slightly smaller but still intimidating soldiers stepped forward. Two of them held spears much like the two I'd already fought, but the other three all wielded two scimitars a piece.

"Sending your lackeys to do your dirty work?" I called out as I began to take a defensive stance. I had my eyes glued to the five warriors who were slowly approaching me, practically licking their lips in anticipation. "Whatever happened to that Gerudo warrior spirit?"

"A soldier worthy of my attention should be able to defeat at least five of my warriors at once," she said. At this point my five opponents were drawing near. In the meantime, many more Gerudo women I hadn't seen before had stepped forward to form a large circle around us, effectively squashing any hope of a daring escape. "If you want a duel with me, you'll have to earn it."

At that, one of the Gerudo wielding two scimitars charged forward suddenly. Her movements were surprisingly quick and I was caught off guard. I had expected them all to continue approaching slowly until they were all in range. I guess the anticipation had simply been too much for this particular woman.

I instinctively blocked her first attack with my shield and I was satisfied by how little weight I felt behind the attack. I could deflect these blows without losing my footing at all. Her second strike came immediately after the first from the opposite side. I brought my sword up, blocking her attack effectively. Thinking quickly, I slid my sword up her blade so that it was pressed between the hilt and the blade of my own sword. Then, in one smooth motion, I twisted my hand downward, putting her in an awkward and overextended position. Her left side now wide open, I kicked out with my leg, catching the bend in her knee and forcing her onto the ground. This was a technique that Link had shown me, and it came naturally without a single thought.

Not wanting to lose this opportunity to thin the herd, I maneuvered behind the Gerudo and immediately arced my sword downward towards her exposed back. Just before the moment of impact, another blade came arcing in to deflect the blow. I looked to my right and saw another of the scimitar wielding Gerudo. She had made it just in time and began a flurry of blows. Her attacks were rapid and sloppy, but there were so many of them that I was forced to go on the defensive until I could make some space for myself.

I used my shield to powerfully deflect an attack and used the moment to lunge backwards and create some space. As soon as my feet hit the ground, I saw something streaking towards my head and barely had enough time to duck as the blade of a spear swept through the space that my head had once occupied. I quickly looked around and realized that all five of my opponents had effectively closed the distance and were beginning to corner me.

At this point, I could feel my heart pounding furiously. I was starting to realize that there was absolutely no way out of this situation. I tried to think of a way to create a diversion, but my mind was still blank on the subject. Before I could collect myself, another Gerudo charged in and began making attacks. With my mind so frazzled, all I could do was react to their attacks. I was on the defensive, darting around, narrowly blocking attacks as I tried to continue to maneuver in such a way that wouldn't let them surround me. It was the best I could manage.

I carried on like that for as long as I could, but eventually their numbers and quickness got the better of me. I found myself in the middle of a shrinking circle, spinning around rapidly, trying in vain to guess where the next strike would come from. Terror began to overtake my body as I deflected a blow from my left that I just barely had time to stop. In practically the same instant that I deflected the attack, I felt a searing hot pain in my right arm as a blade slashed from my shoulder to my elbow. I slashed out with my sword to drive them away, but no sooner had I done so that I felt a jab in my left calf. My leg was shaking, but I refused to drop down to a knee.

The following injuries occurred over what was probably the next thirty seconds, but it feltlike much longer than that as I frantically spun around, deflecting lethal blows only to receive a stab in some unprotected portion of my body: slash across my right ribs, shallow stab in my left ribs, slash across the back of my right knee, cut above the left eye, punch to the jaw, countless slashes across my right arm and left shoulder, one in my left collarbone, a stab in my left thigh, and kick in stomach that finally succeeded in knocking me to the floor.

I stumbled over and immediately tried to regain my footing, but my legs were shaking and had never felt so weak in all of my life. I was dizzy from the blood loss, and the sword which had felt light when I'd picked it out seemed to weigh a thousand pounds. I looked up at my attackers as they approached, each wearing a menacing grin. I remember thinking that even though I was terrified, I wanted to make sure I didn't look afraid. I couldn't give them the satisfaction.

"Hmph, the Hylian hero huh?" one of the Gerudo said as she stepped forward ahead of the rest. "I should have known that a single Hylian could never match us in combat. What a disappointment."

With that, she raised her scimitar high above her head, preparing for the last blow. I was prepared to accept it too. I had been in way over my head from the start. They had made a mistake in choosing me. I just hoped they could find someone worthy to take my place. At least I had saved those two kids.

"Y-You can do it Link!" A small voice cried out. I looked in shock through the legs of the Gerudo into the face of a child. I couldn't see well from the blood that had crept into my eyes, but her bright blonde hair was visible even in the early morning light from a distance. There was a shout from a nearby soldier who began pushing through the crowd, but even still she went on yelling. "Don't give up! Heroes never give up!"

With that, a chorus of cheers from the crowd began to ring out into the previously quiet air. The Gerudo tried to quell their voices, but their were too many of them. So many people, pinning their hopes on me, begging me to get through this moment. It was then that I remembered why I had come here in the first place. It was to save these people. This was much bigger than myself. I couldn't afford to lose, because it was more than just my life at stake. No matter how badly my wounds hurt, no matter how tired I felt, no matter how afraid I was, failure wasn't an option. Not anymore.

The Gerudo above me snorted as she eyed the crowd over her shoulder. "Stupid kid. People who are about to die should learn to keep their mouth's shu—"

Her sentence was interrupted by my shield colliding with her face with more force than I thought I could muster. I had sprung to my feet, feeling reinvigorated. I charged forward, taking the open space in the center of my attackers that had been made from shield bashing the one. I remembered a technique the other Link had taught me before. I hadn't remembered it at first because he had only shown it to me once since he thought it was a bit too advanced for me at the time, but I remembered his words clearly.

" _Listen Link, this move should only be attempted when you're completely surrounded by enemies as a last resort. If executed improperly without striking everyone around you, you'll leave yourself wide open for a counter attack. I'll only show you once for now, so pay close attention._ "

"No point in avoiding risks now," I thought to myself.

At this point, the five Gerudo had refocused themselves and worked their way around me once again. Instead of trying to move around or charge through one of them, I simply planted my feet, placing my shield out in front of me and holding me sword straight out from my body as far back as I could hold it.

I knew the timing had to be perfect. The three with scimitars would probably be the only ones to fully enter my range. I would need to aim for the spear heads of the other two.

The soldiers all inched forward at an agonizingly slow pace. I tightened my grip on my sword, waiting for just the right moment. One of the scimitar users was in my blindspot. I would have to rely partially on sound.

Suddenly, the two scimitar users I could see lunger forward, and I could hear the shifting of feet as the one behind me pushed off the ground. At that exact moment, I began arcing my sword in a horizontal line from my back across my front. I swung with all of my might, tearing through any material the strike met. I let the momentum carry my back foot off of the ground and spin my body around on my pivot foot. I felt several impacts as I spun before placing my back foot back on the ground and grinding my momentum to a halt.

When I looked up, three of the five Gerudo were on the ground, each with a singular massive cut raked across their bodies. The spear of one had been sent flying, and the spear tip of the other had been completely cut off. By some miracle of the Goddesses, the spin attack had worked.

The other two Gerudo immediately began to back away as I glared daggers at them through my blood and sweat covered bangs. I must've looked like an animal. I certainly felt like one.

"So," I said, looking up at the Gerudo leader as the rest of her soldiers struggled to contain their Hylian prisoners. "How about that duel?"

She merely scoffed at me before raising her hand absentmindedly. Before I knew it, more than ten more soldiers had stepped forward and were approaching me, this time quickly. They had decided I was too dangerous to play around with. I raised my weapons, readying myself for one last battle. I felt pretty confident that I wouldn't be able to get myself out of this one, but I wasn't going to go down without a fight.

Suddenly, an arrow streaked just past my head, sinking into the stomach of one of the Gerudo advancing towards me. There was a moment of quiet as the confusion came over everyone before a dozen more arrows came flying followed by the clomping of hooves and the battle cry of soldiers charging.

Flying pell mell into the square was maybe twenty soldiers on horseback, each dressed in the military fatigues of Hyrule's military. They charged in with lances and swords, cutting down Gerudo in record time. Leading the charge was a young warrior with long dirty-blond hair sporting a green tunic overtop of chainmail. The blue shield on his arm and purple hilted blade in his left hand looked pristine as he leapt off of his horse and faced the Gerudo leader one on one. The outfit was completed by a floppy, pointed green hat that rested atop his head.

The other Link—the _real_ Link—had arrived.

* * *

 **Author's note: Well, the best thing I can say about this chapter is that it didn't take me super long to update. I guess I like it. It's exciting, it's got a cliche "you can do it!" anime moment. I like that stuff. I hope you all like it too. Feel free to drop a review and tell me how you felt about the chapter or about the story as a whole. Is it so cliche that it's cringey? Is it the best thing since sliced bread? Let me know. I'm very tired. Read on peeps.**


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